


Chapter One — First Memories

by Xeal



Series: The Story - The Beginning [1]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Bullying, Character Death, Child Abuse, Child Death, Depression, F/F, F/M, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Original Character Death(s), Self Confidence Issues, Self-Acceptance, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Harm, Self-Hatred, Self-Mutilation, Suicidal Thoughts, Violent Fights, Young Love, runaway child
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-10
Updated: 2016-12-10
Packaged: 2018-09-07 14:08:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 43,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8803804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xeal/pseuds/Xeal
Summary: In this chapter Xeal becomes a thing of the past and Pyper born as the young princess casts aside her birth rite and runs away with a dwarven couple and their satyr son. Soon these people become her family as they travel far far away from what was once her unkind prison of a castle.





	1. Chapter 1

"Just start from the beginning." He stated calmly with a small smile. His warm light chocolate eyes were enough to comfort me until he said that. I slowly took a breath and thought it over. I wasn't going to hide anything from our friends any longer.

  
"I... Would have to write a book in order for you to know everything." I said in a soft shaking voice, I was on the verge of tears. It's the year 9:47 Dragon. Varric being Varric, he wanted us all to know everyone better. Each other... That is the biggest problem. I have lived a wonderful and very out of control life. How could I tell them everything and not miss any details?!

It occurred to all of my comrades I had made in the past five or six years that they knew little about my past. They never really questioned it before. Well, back then we were at war. So I suppose the question would never have risen from the ever waking sea of questions from my curious comrades. They all agreed they would allow me to write it all down. Chapter by chapter, they will eventually know my life in detail. From my first full memory to my most current, I want it all on paper. Or at least the most critical parts. So I've started. Writing in between taking care of the inquisition, and myself.

So... Enough with this blathering on how this has come to be. Let's get one thing clear before I spill the beans. Maker help me... I've kept this, my past, a secret from everyone for so long because I wish to be judged not on where I was born, who to, who raised me, what I've done, where I've gone, what I've conquered, or anything to do with my past. I simply wish to be judged on my personality. The one I have now. Keep that in mind, and I hope your mind does not faultier on your image of me now, but only stay the same.

Before we get started I must also give you a little lore most people in Thedas are completely unaware of due to the fact there is an ocean separating the unknown to them and them. Make sense? good. I was born in Pheivrax.

Pheivrax is a continent two-thirds bigger than Thedas, across the northern sea and a little to the right. Pheivrax is ruled by three different groups, the Humans, the Dwarves, and the Elves. Qunari are more or less slaves or rebel wanderers. The slaves are, like many Qunari, are bred specifically for jobs. Not all believe this is something good, Jynnidale does not believe in slaves at all. If you are caught owning one you are submitted to public humiliation and then stripped of your clothing and tied up and sent off on a boat as a form of exile. Whatever happens to you after you've left the horizon line, out of sight, is not our problem. Vleahenun tolerates slaves but if they are allowed to be free they have to keep ties with their previous owner and have some form of work. Flozuin will capture and enslave any and all qunari that they can get their hands on.

The rebel Qun would either form groups and live the dangerous life of sneaking around and being thieves or simply going to Junnidale to start their life of freedom. Some people actually help the slaves escape. Those caught helping were exiled to another territory, if they aren't sent to Junnidale they are exiled completely or sentenced to death by sacrificing them to a dragon.

The Qun who don't form groups and live in the wilderness are able to start new lives, maybe as templars or mages, or maybe being a guard or something. Many end up weapon makers, bounty hunters, guards for the royal, or even hunters or farmers for towns or villages.

Junnidale is the largest of the three ruling parties, each split amongst the land. Much like Ferelden, Orlais, the Free Marches, Antiva, the Tevinter Imperium, and Nevarra, the three are their own little kingdom - but the only difference is one specific species rules the throne. But any species is able to live amongst the nobles and commoners.

Flozuin is the second largest territory, ruled by humans, they don't live much different from Thedas humans. And the smallest territory is Vleahenun, ruled by Dwarves. All of the Pheivrax dwarves are primarily underground dwellers. Much of Vleahenun's surface is untouched, untamed, and a great place for groups of rebles, Templars and Mages to hide out and train if needed. Unlike Junnidale and Flozuin, Vleahenun is not ruled by one set of Royal blood, but by eight.

The eight families of royal blood are to make up a sort of democratic system if you will. Each king or queen has their own very important role, and below them, their children are training to take their place. It works the same way when counsel is called when something big happens. Counsel is when all of the royals are called to a meeting in the capital of Pheivrax, the capital is the biggest city there, Ouzlemstead. It's well populated by all species and located in the Neutral Territory where all the territories meet.

This is a lot to take in - but it's better than having to explain the majority of this over the course of a few years written into chapters. Now that you got a little bit of that in mind - more will tie in later.

Without further a due, let our story - or rather my story, begin

I was born a small elvish child, the year 9:13 Dragon, delivered with care. My mother told me I came into the world without a single sound - despite the distress she was in. A few long and agonizing minutes my identical twin brother followed. We were cleansed and wrapped in silk and fur. One of my families traditions to bless us with a meaningful life - no matter how long or short, but it is to bring us a great purpose. And the hope that one of us will take the throne. Yes, throne. I was the first born Princess of Jynnidale. Not the most honorable title I'll admit but it's up there.

My father told me that as I was born, the wind outside the room picked up dramatically, and the calm weather changed in an instant. It is said to be bad luck when such an occurrence happens. My parents feared for my life, my father feared for not only his children but my mother. The wind howled and a storm began to rage outside, like an angry dragon with a bitch of a bite for revenge. The moment I was out, the storm stopped. Everything was quiet, you could drop a needle and hear it hit the floor. My mom had paused her breaths, waiting to see if I had died in the process. The healer explained that I was merely born asleep. My father named me, Princess Xael. After the loud cries of my mother started again, it took a few minutes and my twin followed me into the world - but much, much more careless as he announced his presence. My mother named my brother Prince Dimitri.

My earliest memory, or at least my earliest full memory. I won't be telling any of those half-faded memories that are as accurate as a blind dwarf playing darts drunk off his ass in a tavern.

My feet slammed on the hardwood, like the thumping of heavy rain hitting the roof of an empty darkened house, one that's walls are so thin you can hear the wind whisper to you as you sleep. Though my footsteps were heavy, I had my reasons. I was chasing my pet cat. Princey. Princey was a very fat cat, even as a kitten, fat and furry, and always shedding. He was a ginger like color with dark orange stripes and a white underbelly, he had seven toes each on his front paws and four on his back paws. His ears were quirky, one was always folded back while the other stood on alert. His eyes were a bright green. Princey was running from me. He jumped to a curtain, and tried to dig his claws in, but he let out a squeal as his claws didn't come out, we got him declawed, and he fell helplessly. And into my waiting arms.

A door slammed open and my enraged mother lets out a yell as she realized what I was doing. "Xael! Put Princey down this instant!" She paused and walked over as the fury burned in her eyes. I could never please her as far as I remember. "Look at you! Covered in mud, in your new gown too, and tracking it through the palace! Have you gone mad child!?" She hissed as she towered over me. Her smooth face glowed slightly from the light of the torch nearby, her black hair glittered as it fell in long silky strands, it was wavy and loosely curled, but silky soft. Her makeup was flawless, steady even lines, black eyeliner and mascara, lipstick a bright red flooding the plump lips and hiding the original shade of light pink like a curtain. Her eyeshadow was shades of dark green and gold, this was to match the gown she was currently wearing. The gown was a carefully crafted gown. Made of King's Willow Weave, Plush Fustian Velvet, Ring Velvet, and some Royale Sea Silk. The colors really worked together in the way the dress was made. It had a sweetheart neckline and the back was cut into a 'V' that ended a few inches from her rump. Her hips had pearls lining them in a way and sprouting from just under the pearls were, it was the ring velvet first, then the royale silk flowing out from under that and trailing a little behind her with the weave extending that a little. She was wearing hell spawn shoes... Heels. They also matched her gown. She wore white gloves, and her crown sat upon her head as always. She wore only one necklace. The one my grandfather had given her before she was wedded to my father.

"Apologies mother..." I said quietly to myself and my pointy little ears drooped ever so slightly. I hated disappointing my mother when I did so I felt like I had failed. Like a Templar who failed their knight-captain. I looked down at my bare feet, the regret of my actions flooding my soul. I wasn't allowed to run barefooted, let alone at all. I had crossed so many boundaries that day. I had played in the mud, ran barefooted in the halls, and I was tormenting my kitten. "I was just having a bit of fun," I admitted as the tears began to well in my eyes. My fuzzy uncombed hair fell into my face and I tucked it behind my ears. I had lost my tiara maker knows where. My hair was not like my mothers. It was a mix between a golden blonde and dishwater blonde, but a little darker when wet. It was cut short, I thought I liked it. My dress was an adequate young girls version of my mothers.

I heard a growl, then as I looked up to see the twisted anger in my mother's dark brown eyes a crack rang through the halls as a sharp blistering pain spread through my left side of my face. I fell helplessly to the floor in a whimper. But I didn't protest. This was the only life I knew at the time. "Get up." She commanded and I scrambled to my feet "Go to your room and wait for your maids. You are to be dressed and clean and ready to meet the human Prince in one hour. If you fail..." She trailed off and sighed heavily with a snarl "Maker have mercy, I don't know what to do if you fail." She said and I scurried off, down the corridor and down another.

I walked down the hall alone, glancing out the tall windows, that showed the unreachable outside world that mocked me, as I was a caged animal, hungering for the knowledge of the unknown. Or at least what was unknown to me. As I was walking and looking out the windows I was suddenly tripped. At first, I thought I had stumbled over my own feet, as I tend to do on a daily basis. But I looked over to find none other than my identical twin. His hair was the same as mine, so were his eyes. You'd think we were both girls if it wasn't for what he was wearing. A green and gold based tux-like outfit, matching to my father's clothing choice and my mothers.... And mine.

"I see you're a mud ball again?" He said softly with a gentle smile, trying to tease me but it was clear I was not very cheery at the moment "Want some help Xael?"

Slowly I nodded and huffed "I can't help it... You're probably the only one to understand that, Dimitri." My voice was quiet and cracked a little. I was not going to cry, even if the un-swallow-able knot welled up in my throat and began choking me. "Even if I try to act right you know she'll just say I'm doing something wrong, and you know it. So don't start." I stated rather quickly as his mouth had opened, after words he shut it and sighed.

"Yes, that's true. But you should figure out what you're doing wrong and fix it... I know you can't be perfect. But maybe you're trying too hard for the wrong thing?" He said softly and we stopped and looked at each other. I have a questionable look and he looked around "I'm just saying, maybe the maker popped you into the wrong body? What if you're not meant for this? Being a princess? Xael you and I both know there is more out there. You're the book worm. The genius... So why haven't you found a way out yet?" With that, I gave him a shocked look.

"Brother! What on earth do you mean? Leave? I can't just leave Dimitri! We're four for makers sake where am I to go? And how?" I blinked confused and baffled that he'd even suggest such a thing. "Dimitri you should know very well we can't just leave were royal blood."

Dimitri nodded and looked at me with a goofy grin "Yea. We're only four. But Templars leave their family as soon as they can walk. And as far as where you'll go, I don't know. But your Xael. You'll find a way. Just like you did whenever you wanted dessert before breakfast." He pointed out and started to walk again. I followed behind and soon we were at my room, we bowed to each other and split paths.

Now alone in my room, I began to undress and ready myself for when my maids show up to bathe me. I was glad to have more than one dress of the same color scheme. Before I undressed completely I stopped and looked at myself in the mirror as I thought over what my brother had said. Leave. Could I leave? I just had to find a way. I jumped and looked at the door as four maids came in and rush me off to the bathroom, strip me of my clothes and quickly started to put me in a bath. The water was luke warm. Not the way I liked it but it was better than freezing. In just a few minutes I was cleaned, then pulled from the bath and dried, my hair combed and my no longer missing tiara was placed on my head. I was put in another dress and slip on flats to match. I pulled my gloves on then let the maids do my makeup once more. They weren't pleased that I made their jobs harder afterward I watched my maids as they left.

I looked in the mirror once more. I was short for an elf, even as a child, and I was somewhat plump. I was told I was fat. My father told me I was fat, many times. But the corset hid it, from my body anyway. My face has always been a little more round. My eyes were a deep greenish. They always were. My hair cut close to my face, combed neatly and to the point my curls didn't show. The girl I saw in the mirror before me. Was not who I wanted to be. It was someone I hated with every fiber of my being. The hair, the dress, the pinchy shoes, the tiara. And especially the makeup. I hated it all. But for the moment I must try to be the best I can for my mother.

Quickly I stopped scowling and left the room, heading to go find my brother, who was to meet the human princess. Our potential suitors. Though this was just a "play date" we knew exactly what it was for. I thought of everything while I was walking. Shoulders back, head high, gently pinch and hold the dress don't wad, walk gently and quietly, hold my stomach in just In case, be emotionless and graceful. My mother told me these things all the time, I failed at them frequently. I tended to run, not hold my dress up at all - and that caused me to trip on a daily basis, and it was hard for me to be emotionless yet graceful... How does she do it?

"Hello?" A voice called out to me. "Excuse me? Lady Mithendar?" I stopped in my tracks and looked over at a boy a little taller than I, he had curly goat-like horns, with the ears of one too, his skin was pale and he wore only a shirt. This was because his bottom half was a goat. I stared in awe at the red headed black goat boy. "I've... I've lost my way. I'm supposed to deliver these to the kitchen, but I'm unable to find it." He said sheepishly, as I glanced around him I noticed a cart full of goods behind him.

"Oh. Erm. Yes, I can show you." I flashed the best gracious smile I could, but it must not have looked authentic enough.

"You don't have to look pleased to see a satyr. I understand how odd I look, please do not fake any kindness." He stated "I'm Kevin by the way... Princess Xael right?" He paused and muttered, "not what I imagined..."

I huffed softly and relaxed my body "yes, charmed I'm sure." I said softly and motioned him to follow as I headed off down the hall, leading him to the kitchen. As I walked I continued to do as I had mentally taken notes on. I didn't speak to the boy. Who was now dragging the cart along behind him.

But he wanted to talk. "That must have hurt." He stated as I looked over I realized he was staring at the mark on my face. Even though I was wearing foundation I suppose it still was slightly visible. I gave a slight nod but didn't respond verbally. "Do you like it here?" He pried "Your uncomfortable movement tells me you don't" he stated and looked to the floor "if I'm wrong you may correct me princess, but my parents have noticed it too..." He said softly "they're the two dwarvish good deliverers. One delivers food like supplies and the other brings the alcohol for the big events." He looked over to me. "They adopted me by the way. They aren't really my parents. They found me." He stated and smiled widely

Adopted. I stopped dead in my tracks and looked around "can we talk later. After your delivery? I want to talk about something." I whispered. He nodded after a questionable look. I then continued walking and finally stopped in the kitchen "here we are. Kitchen." I said softly and smiled then turned to leave but purposely stumbled into him, and whispered: "Meet me in a few hours in the garden." I stated before apologizing aloud and then exiting. He was confused but it would be explained in due time.

My mother was waiting for me in the throne room, I walked as careful as I could. Even if I knew she still didn't agree with anything I did. I decided to act my part and be as stuck up and royal as I possibly could. "Let's get this over with, I am ready to meet the prince, but I would like to have this over before noon, If I am to practice my duties I should start now, I should not be conversating with someone all day." As I said that my mother grinned a little, the only time I ever saw her smile before was when we exiled someone, which was rather frequent sadly.

"Good. I shall start teaching you then. Good to see you've come to your senses. The Prince will arrive with his sister in a few moments, they are already in Jynnidale so he should be to the palace soon." she paused and frowned a little "and do behave yourself when he arrives." she stated before looking over to my father as if to tell him the same, he gave a small uncomfortable smile before waving my Brother and I off, we knew where we were to wait for the two guests.

Dimitri grinned, though I could not tell why was it because I was finally pleasing mother or was it because he was happy to see that I was no longer a creature of the mud? "I can't wait to meet them," he stated and sat in the chair near the chess board and I sat across from him, we seldom got to see each other let alone kids of our age or play a game. So naturally he started to make his move, he was white, it was the first time either of us played, but we saw our father play it so many times. It seemed easy. Even if we had no idea of the names to the pieces or what they did.

After I made my move I kept and eye on my brothers moves " Why can't you wait? They're just other royals, there isn't anything special about them." I huffed and our little game continued poorly. We understood little of it.

"I can't wait because they're kids too." he sighed softly "We are all special in our own way. I know mother wants you to be a carbon copy of her, but please be who you really are when she isn't around... just without the whole improper thing... what I'm saying is be kind and not stuck up like mother." he said with a worried expression. "I don't want to loose the only sister I have because mother wants you to be a puppet"

With that, I laughed and snorted a little but quickly quieted myself "Your not going to loose me by all means. Even if I follow through with your idea, we will find a way to communicate." I smiled cheekily and he nodded with a smile of his own. We stayed quiet for a few short minutes as we continued to play and soon the human prince and his sister entered.

"Hope we aren't interrupting, we were told we could find you two here." Once I looked over I stopped, I had never been around a human, mostly because our staff was primarily Elves or Qunari, a few Dwarves drifted now and then but I was never actually around them for long. But never had I seen a human. He was very thin like someone forgot he needed three meals a day, not one, and his hair was long and thick, wiry almost and a dark dark brown. His eyes were a mix of gold and blue, they looked rather curious, he was pale and his cheeks were a bit pink, his ears are what made me the most curious. They weren't pointy! The Qun had pointy ears, the Elves had pointy ears, but Humans and Dwarves don't? That was so peculiar to me.

My eyes drifted to his sister, she was my height but more broad in her frame, her hair was thick and wiry too, but black like my mothers. Same eye color, same paleness. They wore matching gold and blue outfits with white trim.

"Of course, you're not interrupting." I paused and got up "My brother and I were simply... passing the time as we awaited your arrival." I stated with a small smile, I suppose it looked genuine enough because neither of the two seen through it, I don't even think my brother did. "Princess Xael and Prince Dimitri... As you already know I assume" I said softly... here's the part that makes me queazy. I held my hand out to the prince and he knelt down a little and kissed the back of it. I swear on Andraste, I was about to throw up. I hate this gooey stuff to people I'm unattached to. Made me feel sick. But I hid it, for the sake of my family.

He then smiled as he slowly got up and kept eye contact, it made me feel even sicker. "Prince Walcott and Princess Lindsey. Charmed to meet you Princess Xael...more than you know" He stated with a somewhat unsettling grin which caused me to pull my hand away

"yes...I'm sure..." I paused and cleared my throat "First things first, how about a tour of the palace. You are my guest Walcott. So we're on our own" I nodded to my brother and smiled before beckoning Walcott to follow along as I headed to the nearest corridor. He was two or three years older than I and stood taller by a few inches. He stayed pretty quiet as I showed him about the palace, with the occasional question of course. It took a little over an hour to get to everything, and eventually, we ended up in the garden. "And lastly, we have the garden, the biggest courtyard in all of Pheivrax. But I always believed that the garden is no match for the Winter Wilds." I smiled proudly. He laughed a little but smiled

"I assume you've never actually been there? That place is so cold you'd freeze to a statue quicker than you can kiss your butt goodbye," he said and sat down on a bench that was near us.

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "It matters not the temperature of an area, the natural beauty is a magnificent sight. And yes, I have been there. My father took me on a trip with him to gather reports from our miners up there. It was cold, but it isn't that cold. And the way the sun glitters on the untouched blankets of snow is unforgettable." I let out a soft sigh and sat next to him, with as much room between us as I could make possible. "I wish I could show it to you, but magic is forbidden in the palace, so even if I was capable, I would be breaking the rules." I looked over to him and he nodded with a slight smile

"Why not take up painting then? If you become good at it, you can paint fond memories, that way you can show them off to people if you want. Or even sell the paintings for profit." he responded rather cheerfully, which to me was odd.

I thought it over then looked at him as if I had been insulted. "Why are you telling me this?" I asked with a slight hiss inching into my voice, he looked a little scared then, and I relaxed more to show him I meant no harm, and he relaxed as well.

"I just wanted to suggest a hobby... You seem like someone who would pass the time doing something calming anyway... Forgive me if I offended you, princess." He said softly and got up "I should leave. My parents are probably looking for me, as well as my sister." He said softly and backed away a bit before nearly running away. I suppose my angry voice made him scare for some reason. I decided to wait in the gardens for Kevin, he was supposed to meet me anyway. I asked a nearby guard to fetch my favorite book from my nightstand in my bedroom, and as I waited for them I got up and went over to the water fountain.

Slowly I began to think about the outside world. Even when I left the palace it was only ever to learn something about my future duties. I never got to explore. It was "too dangerous" for a royal blood. The book was handed to me by the guard after a good ten minutes of him being gone, I went back to the bench and began to read. My favorite book was called "Dragon Keeper". It is a child's story book about a very mighty Mage who crafted an amulet with the tears, blood, and scales of a dragon, and the chain made from obsidian, the gem in the center, with the tears and blood under and around it was a special and powerful stone said to control dragons, the gem was surrounded by the scales and placed in an obsidian setting and the chain added. Whoever wears the amulet is supposed to understand and be able to be friends with dragons. One day when the Mage died, he hid the amulet, and the amulet would only ever be revealed by one who has strong willpower, and a knowledge of how to use it. Even if it is unknown to them.

After reading through the tale two or three times a tap came to my shoulder "P-princess..." The sheepish voice came out once more, almost in a goaty 'baaah'. I looked at the satyr and smiled before getting up and motioning him to follow

"Thank you for meeting me. But you needn't be afraid. I know a place where we can talk." I said softly and smiled after we were inside I helped him and we both avoided all guards and anyone wandering the halls, soon we were in the library. I had signaled him to keep quiet the entire time. Soon I opened the secret passage that was hidden behind a painting and he went in first, then I followed, and the passage closed behind us with ease. After crawling through the tight dark crawl space on the crumbly hard and rough stone surface, we entered the hidden closed off room that was my hiding hole. There were a few chairs and a rocking chair, and some books, and some old stuffed toys my mother tried to throw out. There weren't any windows in the room, so I started to light a torch on the wall. "I need help." I stated softly and looked over at him after lighting the torch, I then say down and looked him in the eyes "Do you think you and your parents can help?"

Kevin looked confused "depends on what we're talking about here... What exactly do you need help with?" He said and suddenly a slightly worried look started on his face

"I want to run away. I don't want to be a princess. Please, I'll do anything, but do you think your parents can help and say I'm their 'adopted' kid as well?" I was practically begging by now. The knot that had dissipated from earlier was coming back, and I was thinking about letting a few tears slip

Kevin nodded a little "I mean... I have to ask my parents. But my mom would defiantly love to have a daughter. But we'd be risking a lot... I'll have a note slipped under your cat's collar with an answer later. Check the note before you go to bed. If we can get you out we will and my mom will write instructions." He paused and sighed a little "But please. Make sure you really want to leave."

I nodded "A million times yes I want to leave. There's so much more to life than sitting on a throne all day, I want to be out there not in here. Please take me with you." I let out a soft whimper as some tears began to roll down my cheeks. This was a big decision, for anyone of any age. And a four-year-old was making it. I had to leave. I just had to. He nodded and I put the torch out before we started to leave back the way we came, we were going to split paths until the note would be under Princey's collar.

The rest of the day was somewhat normal. I went to lunch, had small talk with our guests, taught the human royals a little bit about the palace history, then we all watched the royal fool dance around, we then had dinner, and afterward I went to my room to ready myself for bed. I picked up my cat on the way, and once in my room I looked for the note, and there it was. Folded neatly and then tucked against it and under one of the little flaps, the collar was turned inside out but no one would have noticed unless they looked closely. I fixed the collar then unfolded the note and read it to myself.

Dear Princess Xael,

I am pleased to tell you, you are welcome to join our family. My son Kevin has informed us of your desire to run away, we have snuck in a sack to the kitchen to look like a bag of beets, the bag is actually a bag of clothes. You should change into them and put the cloak inside over yourself. You will have to leave everything behind, but we will wait until midnight for you at the wishing well just outside of the village outside your palace. Make sure to pull your hood up after leaving the palace, no one will know who you are if you keep it up. We will talk more once you meet us outside. We have taken account on all the risks, but you are basically a slave to your own fate, we ourselves do not agree to this, so we are helping you.

Yours truly,

Ferinda, Enron, and Kevin Raesca

  
This was hands down one of the most happiest moments in my life. I quickly burned the letter and got dressed in my night clothes. After getting dressed I pulled my pillow case off my pillow and went to the kitchen and snuck inside, thankfully all our chefs had retired for the night. I then snuck down into the cellar and poked at the bags of fresh beets until I found the squishy non beets one. I then picked it up and pushed it inside my pillow case. I held it like I would a pillow and grabbed a glass of warm milk before heading back to my room. If I were to be asked that was going to be my excuse, the glass of milk.

Thankfully no one ever came to tuck me in bed at night. I locked myself in my room and then proceeded to change into the clothes. They were boy clothes, and too big for me. So my guess was they were spares for Kevin and the pants were something thrown together, this was because they were patchy and worn looking, I pushed my hands into some soot and smeared it on my hands and face, even on my arms. I was given no shoes so I put some soot on my feet. Then I made my hair look a bit mangy and pulled the cloak on. I patted some soot on my clothes and then the cloak for effect. I looked like a proper orphan or very very low-class child. I pushed the empty sack under my mattress and went to my desk to scribble down a runaway letter, stating why I'm leaving and a few requests for my parents if they ever wanted me to return. I then looked at myself in the mirror. Taking it all in. This... This was the me I liked.

Quickly I grabbed my nug toy from under my pillow and stuffed it under my arm and headed through the secret crawl space under my bed, it led all the way to one of the watch towers. I know she said to leave everything behind, but I couldn't leave Squiggles behind, my nug toy. I moved slowly and carefully and kept low to the floor, soon I made it past the guards and outside. I then made my way around the palace and to the gates of the walls surrounding it. I went to a hole in the wall near one of the watchtowers and squeezed through, I covered my mouth as I let out a squeak. I had accidentally cut myself on some very sharp stone. I decided to not let the pain bother me and I ran off, my bare feet hurt from the rocks and hard ground. But I loved the feeling. My breath was heavy, I was panting, sweating, and crying a little. My nug toy was now in my hand as I ran as fast as I could, avoiding anyone outside.

The moment I left the village I had to climb a hill, then, like promised they were waiting at the wishing well for me. I ran over to them and quickly hugged the dwarvish woman tightly "Thank you thank you thank you thank you!" I couldn't help it. This was the best thing that had happened in my life up until that point.

"Welcome aboard." Ferinda smiled and pulled the hood of the cloak off "Oh, I jus' love what ya did for effect. It'll work well. I'll jus' tell whoever may ask about ya, you were an orphan, we adopted ya jus' like Kevin." She stopped "But.... We mus' fix something, they'll notice ya hair cut. So let's add some bangs later and a bandanna." She said and took her bandanna off and wrapped it around my head and the back hid the back of my hair and made it look like I had more, it also hid my pointy ears. She then took some scissors and cut my hair to a sloppy 'A' frame and smiled. "There." She said then led me to the wagon and helped me on back, it was mostly empty now. She sat me next to Kevin and she climbed on with and sat beside me. Her husband, Enron started to speak up as he began to ride their old horse and the horse led the wagon farther from the village.

"Now listen here young lady, now that yer no longer a princess ya goin' need a new name. If ya say yer name is Xael people will know who ye are. Not many people be named Xael. So find a new one. Or one of us can pick for ya." He smiled "And now that ya apart of the family. You may call me Pa, and you can call me wife over yonder Ma. Kevin will be yer brother." He said softly and glanced back at me. His eyes were almost black, and his hair, what he had left of it anyway, stuck to his head like duck fluff. It was thin and oily looking, a light brownish color. He wore some simple and very worn cloth clothes and a very worn heavy and old leather jacket over them, with leather workers boots and a hat to match. He had a thick mustache and bushy eyebrows. They were so untamed it was hard to see his eyes unless he raised the little bushes on his face. His mouth came out ever so slightly from its hiding spot under his mustache. He was a fat old dwarf.

I thought about what he said. I couldn't think of anything that would make a good new name. "What would be a good new name?" I whispered slightly and looked over at Kevin who was thinking so hard I was scared he was going to poop on the wagon "Tija?" He asked softly, I shook my head, that didn't sound anything like me.

"What bout' Cindy?" Ferinda asked softly with a smile.

"No. Too cutesy." Stated Enron, who butted in "What bout' Saige?"

I thought about it "no... That sounds weird..." I thought it over "how about Pyper?" Enron nodded

"Good name.... Nice fiery one." He stated and smiled warmly and started to hum.

Ferinda agreed and so did Kevin. I watched the world around us as it moved and then the palace and village, they were shrinking as we slipped away unnoticed. No lights, no chatter, no sounds from the sleeping village, or the family I once knew. I pulled the nug you closer to my chest and suddenly a wave of nervous emotion washed over me. What if I couldn't make it as a normal kid?

I looked over to Fer— Ma. I looked at Ma and took in her details. Her hair was pulled into a tight bun on her head. Her hair was almost white, it was a beautiful shade of blonde. Her face and body were plump but she was one of the thinner dwarves. She was wearing a very simple beat up and worn out dress with an apron on that matched, both were beige and brownish tones, her shoes were flats but looked more comfortable a than the pinchy ones I had to wear. She was wearing light makeup. Mostly just eyeliner and a little lipstick. She had a ring on a string and it was worn as a necklace.

She looked at me and smiled "You and Kevin better get some shut eye. We'll be half way to Vleahenun by the time you wake." She said with a small smile and Kevin wrapped a blanket around me and motioned me to come closer. We had to sleep close for warmth and share a beet sack for a pillow. We put our backs to each other though for the best comfort for us both. I pulled my hood back over my head and pulled my toy close before starting to snooze with my new brother. Ma kissed our foreheads and smiled "Sleep well my chilren'. Tomorrow be a bright new day." She stated before I slowly drifted off to sleep. The soft clicks of the horse's hooves and squeaking wheels on the cart, the gentle noises of wildlife around us. It all soothed me and kept me fast asleep.

I woke up when the wagon stopped moving. I hadn't realized it until now, but I had kicked the blanket off and was sleeping with the sunlight as a blanket to keep me warm but my cloak was covering me. I blinked a little as I opened my eyes and let my vision adjust. I looked over at Pa who was now on the wagon sleeping, Ma had switched spots with Pa at some point in the night, she was now on their old horse. I sat up and rubbed one of my eyes and looked at her

"Ma? Where are we?" I asked softly and gave out a soft yawn. Ferinda looked up from her log book and smiled over at me.

She got off the horse and walked over to the side of the wagon "We're half way home sweet pea, we're in Glares Flalo." she said softly and fixed my bandanna "You wake Pa and Kevin up, ill meet ya three inside for breakfast." she smiled and headed around the care and inside a tavern, it stated it was child friendly on the sign on the door.

I did as asked and shook Kevin awake "Kevin wake up!" I smiled softly and giggled as he groaned and looked at me confused then sat up and looked around while yawning.

"We're in Glares Flalo?" he asked softly and looked at me "I'll wake Pa up, you go look at the food with Ma," he said softly and smiled softly. I didn't have to be told twice, I grabbed my nug toy and crawled to the edge of the cart before climbing off and ran over to the entrance. The door was so heavy, I had to push as hard as my body would let me.

My hands pressed against the smooth surface as I pushed. Once it popped open I ran through and over to Ma who was at a table still looking over the book. I then climbed up into the chair next to her and smiled. "Kevin and Pa will be in soon," I stated with a warm smile and she smiled back and nodded.

"I got us all drinks already. I figured ye would like milk." she said softly "They don't have the best of food here but it'll do fer breakfast, then you and Kevin can take care of the last deliveries and ill see what I can do about your clothes when we get home." Ma's voice was soft and gentle. She looked over at Pa and Kevin as they got inside, Pa wobbled when he walked, he sat across from Ma and Kevin across from me. The waitress soon sat our drinks down and left again since we weren't ready to order. I looked at the small paper menu they had, the food was hard for me to pronounce. It was odd naming but I didn't mind.

I looked at the blueberry muffin and smiled before looking at Ma "Can I have this?" I asked softly and pointed to it on the menu, she nodded and smiled before Pa ordered an omelette and so did Kevin, Ma decided on something else, she got a coffee cake. The tavern smelt odd, at the palace I was never allowed around alcohol. The smell was sweet but bitter and smelt strongly, the smell of food could barely fight its way through it.

Looking at the tables and chairs looked amateur made, as well as the stools and most of the other furniture there. The chandeliers looked like they needed new candles and the bookshelves were nearly empty, there wasn't a lot of people in there but the staff seemed very happy even if they didn't have many customers. The waitress came over and got the orders before going back to go fetch the food.

"Ma, can Pyper and I go to the market for candy after we make the deliveries?" Kevin asked curiously with a small smile, his left ear flicked as a fly buzzed around it, he looked tired still but was very alert even though you'd think he was exhausted.

Ma looked at Pa and thought it over, she and Pa nodded in unison "alright, and I'll also write a list so you can grab some supplies as well from the food section of the market, Pa and I will gather some things for clothes." She said and smiled before looking at me "Buying fabric for clothes and curtains or upholstery is cheaper than buying it all pre-made - don't let their fancy designs fool you." She stated with a gentle look, I took a mental note on that and nodded then returned the smile. This smile was real for once, not the ones I faked at the palace to get by.

The food was sat in front of us and I started to munch on my muffin, that's when I overheard something. Two men walked in, talking. "They say she just vanished into the night, the king and queen won't release any details on the matter, but it's confirmed that she's missing." One man stated and sat beside his friend. The bartender gave them drinks and an odd look

"Who's gone missing?" She asked rather puzzles

"Princess Xael." The man responded and the woman nearly dropped the glass she was holding

"Ye. One of the staff members leaked what information they could. But apparently our leaders wish to keep the subject hushed, one of the maids recall seeing the queen reading a letter then cryin'" a man with an odd accent stated, he was not from Jynnidale that was for sure. Let alone Pheivrax.

The friend spoke again "Ransom letter I bet. Poor princess probably was kidnapped and hauled off. No doubt it's one of them gold digging rebel Qunari." He hissed and took a long drink from his cup

"Makers tears, that poor girl. She's so young if she was kidnapped maker knows where she is now. Andraste help the poor child. I pray for her" the waitress said softly with a frown

The men nodded and the one with the foreign accent spoke again "Ye. We all pray for the girl. Poor lass is probably all jumbled up and confused." He stated and with that the conversation died.

Who knew so many civilians cared about my disappearance. Kevin winked at me and smiled as if saying 'it's alright, no one knows your Xael, your Pyper now.' And I relaxed my unintentionally tensed body. I smiled at Ma then at Pa, then back to my food at continued eating. I wasn't allowed to have pastries, rarely was I allowed to eat anything pastry-wise at all unless it was something made for a tea party, even then I wasn't allowed to have any. Occasionally one small nibble off my mother's but that was it. I guzzled my milk down once finished with my muffin and I licked the milk from my lips. The milk was sweeter and thicker than the milk I got at the palace. I normally drank what my chef would call 'Halla Milk' I don't know what a 'Halla' is but I was curious to find out.

I looked up at Ma "Do we have a library at home?" I asked softly and smiled at her. She shook her head

"No, not in our house. We have a bookshelf, but not a Library. There is one down the road from our house though dear, so don't worry if you're looking to read something there will be plenty things of the unknown to read." She said and reached over, patting my head gently. She then wrote a few things down on an empty page and ripped it from her book and handed it to me, then handed a little bag of money to Kevin "alright. And one piece of candy each. Your teeth don't need to be rotted out by the time we get home." She said softly and Kevin quickly swallowed the rest of his food and drink then got up and motioned me to follow. I could hear the soft click of his hooves against the peeling old wood panels. I climbed out of my chair and hugged Ma and Pa before running over to Kevin where was now waiting for me by the door. We pushed it open together, which proved to be easier than doing it alone, and headed down the street.

Kevin's hooves kept making a gentle noise against the stone path. I opened the list and read the first item aloud "Carrots." I stated and smiled

"Is that all she wrote?" He asked with a teasing smile "what else is on there?"

"Dr-D-Drufflo meat, po-ta-to...es... Potatoes, eggs, wheat, d-drufflo milk..." I stopped and looked at Kevin "I can't read that..." I said quietly and frowned, he looked over and smiled softly

"Flour."

"Flower? Why do we need flowers?" I asked confused

Kevin laughed a little and shook his head "No silly, flour is ground up wheat, it's used in baking." He said softly and smiled at me "keep reading."

I nodded and looked back to the list, deciding to question it later. "Cheese, cocoa beans, and v-van... Van-ill-a." I stated softly and looked at him "that's it..." Kevin nodded

"Seems normal for Ma's shopping list. I know how much she wants so don't worry, but you might have to help carry some things. I'll let you carry the light things, though. Don't worry." He stated and grinned. "What kind of candy do you want Pyper?"

I shrugged and looked at him. I almost said 'my parents never allowed candy in the palace', but I stopped myself. Instead, I said, "Being an orphan I didn't really get the pleasure of eating any." I said softly "You can pick for me."

Kevin nodded "I suggest butterscotch or chocolate." He smiled and grabbed my hand and kept me close as we started to near the market area. As we neared voices grew louder, people were begging on the street as well as yelling at shop keepers, talking amongst each other, or talking to the shopkeepers. There was even a woman with shiny armor buying a few things. Kevin looked at me and handed me some of the money "Go buy the carrots and potatoes, one bag of each. Then get a small bag of cocoa and a few vanilla beans, and the eggs. Then meet me next to the fountain so that I can get the heavy stuff, then we can get the candy." he said softly and smiled "and don't talk to anyone." he pulled me away from the crowd and slipped a small dagger in my hand "Hide this in your nug, if anyone tries to kidnap you use it on them and run for the nearest Templar you can find, or to me if I'm closer." he gave me a small hug which I then returned. He smelt like ram fur, he was warm, comforting, and it felt safe to hug him. The hug didn't last long but he patted my head afterward then went to one side of the market to buy the other things on the list.

I did as I was told and hid the knife in my stuffed toy, having to rip a hole in it at first, I gave it a kiss on the nose as an apology. I shifted on my feet a little as I put my nug under my arm, I must have shifted too far, as my left foot suddenly had a cold wet feeling against it. I looked down, my foot was slightly in a puddle. The puddle wasn't very big, or deep, or even very clear, but it was a puddle. I ignored my urge to jump in it and I went over to the opposite side of the market as my brother did. I went to a stand that had a sign saying what it sold and for how much. I read it over.

Beets, carrots, potatoes, wheat, eggs, flour, cheese, vanilla, cocoa. Good. Everything I need, and other things too. I read "elfroot" and couldn't help but giggle. Elves don't have roots! Or at least I don't. I think... Do I? I looked at the merchant who smiled curiously at me. She was beautiful. Her eyes were deep blue, and here hair was an amber like color, it was long enough to touch her shoulders and it curved in toward her face. She was wearing a flower in her hair is Not recognize, and she wore a light blue dress with white and pink accents, she also had a ribbon tied around her wrist neatly. Assumingly it was Incase she needed to tie her hair up. I felt scared to talk to her, even though I was formally a princess I was certainly in no state to talk to anyone as flawless. I gulped as if out of fear and I sat the list on the counter, the merchant read it over and smiled at me.

"Okay, I can sell you some of this stuff, but how much do you need?" Her voice was soft, and she smiled more at me. I must have been cute to her - I looked like an orphan still after all.

I mustered up the courage to talk. "One b-bag of potatoes... And one of the c-c-arrots... And a small bag of cocoa... And some van- vanilla b-be-eans... And a basket of eggs...." I said softly and I felt my body tremble. What if I ended up upsetting the woman? She nodded and then told me the price for this stuff.

"Alright dear, that will be two hundred and twenty-three coins." She said softly and I passed up the amount of coins my brother had given me and she counted it out before handing the remaining back. She then out the bags of the ingredients in a larger basket and handed the small basket of eggs to me and the basket of other ingredients. I sat the heavier ingredients on the ground for a moment and put my nug toy on the eggs before picking up both baskets and smiling at the lady

"Thank you," I said quietly before scurrying off, across a few puddles and to the water fountain so I could wait for my brother. I sat the baskets down and hopped up on the side of the fountain to sit and wait. I saw Kevin go from one side of the market to the other and to the lady I bought the stuff from that he told me to. He bought the stuff he knew I couldn't carry and then headed over to meet me. He then smiled and sat the things down next to the other stuff.

"No one's givin' you any fuss right?" He asked softly and waited for my nod in response. "Alright. Let's buy some candy then get back to the wagon." He stated and picked the heavy stuff up and helped me with the light stuff. He leads me to a shop. Inside it was warm and cozy feeling. A man was behind the counter putting little golden things in a small wrapper like thing. He twisted both ends and sat them all in a jar.

Kevin walked up to the counter and smiled at the man "one bar of chocolate please." He stated with a smile and handed over three coins before he took the chocolate bar from him, it was wrapped in a paper like a sheet and sealed off from the outside world. Kevin then led me out of the shop and back out to the cold world. The difference from the floor inside and the stone path outside made me smile.

The wood floor in the shop was rough and worn, and would probably give me a splinter if I stepped on it wrong, or turned on my feet like a pivot. The shop smelt strongly of sweets and the door was similar to the tavern's door. The scent of the sweets flooded the outside world with every opening of the door, but only for a few brief seconds before being locked away in the stone building once more.

The stone beneath my feet currently were smooth, and now wet. It had begun to rain a little. Not much, though. The rain was cold, but light, and gentle. I followed closely behind Kevin, his hooves making the soothing sound that seemed to keep me calm. It was only calming because I knew Kevin, and I knew if I heard his hooves then we were still walking, still close to each other. And I wouldn't end up getting hurt with him around... Hopefully. Thankfully the tavern and the market area weren't far apart. We sat the goods on the wagon and I watched as Kevin pulled the blanket, we had been using to sleep in earlier, over the goods and tucking them in safely, it now just looked like lumps under a blanket.

Kevin smiled, "Let's get the last deliveries done and get back here before Ma and Pa get back from shopping." He stated and pulled the few sacks of things we needed to deliver off the cart. Each was labeled. "Alright, first three bags, to the Templar tower that over watches this place" he smiled and motioned me to follow, the bags weren't big, but they weren't small either.

I looked at the bags curiously "What's in them?" I walked curiously and he shrugged a bit

"I don't really know. They're these Magic necklaces or whatever. We pick up bags every two or three months of these things and give them to the Templars. The Nobel magi of the Jynnidale magics court make them and send them here. I ain't got the slightest idea why sis. So don't ask me." Kevin said softly and kept walking.

I looked at the sky a little then at the people. The tower wasn't far, in fact, it took less than five minutes to walk there. As we neared I heard the zapping of magic spells and the sounds of blade hitting blade. The tower was large and very big around to fit more than just one room, it sat proudly in the center of a large walled in field, as we neared the gate I peered in. To the left of the gate was young Templars in training, being taught how to use special Mage restraining weapons and ropes, along with a special spell that detains magi, they were also practice fighting with sticks. To my right were Templars who were older but from the looks of it also still in training but much closer to adulthood. They were using not only magic but swords.

Kevin knocked on the gate a little and it made a loud squeaking noise and a clanking noise, a girl about Kevin's age walked over and opened the gate. "You two must be here for the delivery, right?"

Kevin nodded "yea, that's us." He smiled and the girl was then accompanied by a woman, a Qunari woman.

"Taylor go back to the field, you left your buddy without a training partner. You know the rules." She stated and the girl nodded before running off. She had horns like the Qun, but they were thinner and more fragile, she also had much longer pony ears, but they curved a little. She was a little smaller than the other Qunari girls but taller than the human and elf children, she was a mix between Elf and Qunari. The woman took the bags and gave us a pouch of gold. "There ya go, six hundred and forty-six. I gave a little extra for your troubles of rushing it over night. I know you guys don't normally move so quickly from place to place for deliveries." She stated and Kevin nodded before thanking her. She closed the gate and I followed Kevin.

Next, we went to a few different taverns and shops, delivering smaller bags. Things of beats or onions, even salt and some odd things I didn't know existed. Each place was completely different and so interesting that Kevin practically had to pull me away from each. Soon we were at our last stop, a blacksmith. It was hot in the small stone building. There was a well-built man working away at a new sword. Kevin was carrying the bag, it was the biggest we had. He sat it on the floor and went over to the blacksmith. He got the pouch of money and then explained that the miners from where we lived were running thin on obsidian and that they would be starting a new shaft in a month, so he could put an order forward early and they would double the amount for the price of the original offer for your troubles of not having the full order asked for now. The blacksmith accepted and wrote down what he want and sent us on our way. The walk wasn't long back to the wagon.

"Well now that we're done." Kevin climbed up on the wagon and sat before helping me up. He then handed me my nug, that way I had it in my arms again. "Ready to try your first piece of chocolate?" He asked and started to open the chocolate bar's paper wrapping. It was brown and looked like a wood plank. But he broke a chunk off with ease and handed it to me. He then watched curiously. I sniffed it first. It smelt odd, I had never smelt something like it before. But I trusted Kevin. If it wasn't edible he wouldn't have handed it over to me right? I stuck the chunk of chocolate in my mouth. I froze. I didn't know what to say.

Just as chocolate hit my tongue it started to melt, the sharp bittersweet flavor coursed through my mouth and made a tingly feeling in my cheeks. The new sensation was interesting. I started to chew it, it began to melt more and spread all over the inside of my mouth, like butter on a hot pan. I pushed my tongue against the squishy gritty mass in my mouth and played with it while chewing. It felt weird. It tasted weird. But it was good. I didn't know how to respond to this in honesty. I tried to swallow but found myself moving my tongue around to try and get the parts of it that had stuck to my teeth and cheeks off and to slide down my throat as well. But it didn't want to.

Kevin gave a laugh, but he smiled. "I take it you like it?" He asked softly and stuck some in his mouth as well, I couldn't help but giggle and I decided it wasn't bad, so I nodded.

"Yea. It's really good." I said softly and looked down at the ground, I kicked my bare feet as I watched them dangle over the edge of the wagon. I heard Kevin wrap up the rest of the chocolate and put it up. I went to question it but the memory of Ma saying we could only have one piece each surfaced my thoughts and I stopped before asking.

Kevin looked at him "So. How are we going to celebrate your birthday?" He asked softly and blinked a little. I gave him an odd look. One where my nose wrinkled and my ears stood up, I raised a brow and tilted my head.

"What do you mean? Shouldn't we just celebrate it on the day I was born - it is a birthday after all." I said softly and keep staring at him. Suddenly someone else started talking. It was Pa. It made me jump.

"Kevin means, should we celebrate the day you were adopted as your birthday, or your actual birthday." He stated and waddled over to the horse before climbing on slowly and somewhat painfully. Or so it looked. Ma sat a few things in the wagon and climbed on before the wagon began moving again.

"I say the day you were adopted in... So yesterday." Ma stated. Kevin agreed, and Pa didn't seem to care. I gave a nod, I suppose that would be more acceptable anyway. If I have a new name and new family, then new birthday too.

I looked at Ma as a thought suddenly came to my head "Ma?" I asked softly

"Hm?"

"What's my full name going to be?" I asked softly and looked at her. She gave out a little 'hmm' while thinking then finally spoke

"Well, your brother's is, Kevin Lumor Raesca. Mine is Ferinda Jevia Sirvia Resi Hirdra Volmas Raesca, and Pa's is Enron Gurad Raesca. So... How about since the boys have nice short ones, we will make a long one for you. But maybe something with more attitude and personality to fit your fiery first name? We will have one down soon enough." She said softly and smiled before patting my head. "For now, it's just Pyper Raesca..." She trailed off and started to hum softly.

I had almost forgotten my new name was Pyper... That was something that would take a moment to get used to. I kicked my feet and looked to Kevin who smiled softly

"Hey, want to play alongside the wagon as we head out of the city?" He said softly and smiled at me. I looked from him to Ma who nodded in approval. I jumped off the edge of the cart and stumbled a little before looking at Kevin who had done the same. "Let me teach you a game. It's called tag. I'll tag you, as in touch you, and then run away. You chase and try to do the same and run away. It's called tag. And you yell 'tag your it' when you touch someone." He said softly and I nodded

"Are those all the rules?" I asked softly and he nodded

"Other than staying relatively close to the wagon and out of the way of the wheels and the horse than those are the only rules - Oh! And out of the way of strangers." He said softly and then lightly slapped my arm before yelling "Tag!" He then bolted off and I quickly followed. My nug toy with me the whole way. As we left the city the smooth stones turned to hard dirt with random twigs and pebbles all over. Not fun to run on while barefoot. But due to my young age and how occupied I was, the blistering pain in my feet didn't bother me. Kevin and I spent hours running after each other, along side the cart, in fields near the cart but in view of Ma, and even along the brush of the forest. The texture of the road didn't bother my feet much until suddenly as I was being chased by Kevin my left foot went lopsided, I pressed down on it by accident, and I quickly toppled over with a loud yelp of pain. The burning feeling was like a hot dagger quickly passed through and left me with a wound. Kevin stopped and panted heavily as he knelt down and looked at my foot. I was now sitting slightly on my hip with my legs to my side.

"Well, looks like that ends our fun for a little." He stated and reached out to me. Helping me up and over to the wagon. Ma had got off and Pa had stopped to help as well.

"I didn't break it did I?!" I hadn't ever gotten hurt before. Well, besides the painful morning brushing of my hair, or the punishment from mother. But Ma reassured it was just a bad sprain. It had swollen up pretty good. Ma wrapped it up in some old rags and put the bag of cold meat on my ankle. It hurt to move it. But no one seemed to be mad I had gotten hurt. Kevin cupped my face with one hand and began picking pebbles out of it with the other hand, that's when I realized I had been crying, and bleeding. The pebbles gave me small wounds, but Pa said they wouldn't scar me. I had a few cuts and bruises but nothing permanent.

"Oh... Wait a moment." Ma said after Kevin had cleaned my face - or rather attempted to. She pulled my cloak off and examined the scabbed over cut on my arm, it was on my bicep. It was a long jagged cut that was somewhat straight but definitely still fresh. "This here one might leave ya a mark. Not one that's noticeable, but a mark. Jus' a teeny one though." She said and put a bandage on it as well... Well, more cloth. She then allowed me to put my cloak back on. For the rest of the ride, Kevin decided to describe home to me. I had heard very few stories about Vleahenun.

"We live in Velcpool, Vleahenun. Velcpool is a city known for its mining and taverns. Ma and Pa happen to own the best and biggest tavern in Velcpool! Ma and Pa don't condone slavery, so our "slaves" are more like part of the family rather than actual slaves. Our house, sleeping quarters and such are in the upstairs area. And we all live underground. 99% of all cities in Vleahenun are underground. There are only four cities above ground. Very small ones, though. But you'll have much more fun there than being cooped up in that cruddy palace." he said happily. "And you just have to meet all my friends! I know you'll totally be interested in meeting them! Doreian would be happy to have another friend, and Dinah wouldn't mind meeting you either." he said with a wide smile

"So wouldn' Dinah's siblins. They all be so nice, ye bound to make many friends dear." Ma said softly and brought out a hair brush from her bag and scooted closer to me before taking the hood of my cloak down and then pulling the bandanna off and starting to comb my hair so it didn't look knotted anymore. "I've gone and got some materials for some new clothes for ya dear, I do hope we can make em pretty clothes for ya, sweetie." She said quietly and combed my hair neatly. She brushed it some more, Kevin handed her the scissors again and she snipped a little of one side so the right side was longer than the left and it looked poorly done and uneven, she then smiled "there, now it don't look like you have any kind of royal haircut." She stated and wrapped the bandana neatly around my neck like a handkerchief and pulled my hood back over my head. "As pretty as a flower but I'm sure you'll know more than you could ever dream of sitting on ya' tush listen' to shite about everything politic related." She said happily.

I giggled and nodded "My mother was planning to have me go to court with her today and help deal with matters of the western bridge near Egloefta, I didn't listen much but I rather be here than doing that any day!" I exclaimed with a wide smile and Ma gasped.

"Oh my! you lost a tooth!" she stated and looked at me, taking my chin and looking at my teeth. "Must have been loose and got knocked out when you tripped, is it the first you've lost?" She asked softly and I gave a nod. My face had twisted into fear and confusion, fear of the unknown and confusion of why I had lost a tooth. That's when Ma had to explain that I was growing up, growing up meant losing teeth slowly and new ones come in. It starts at a younger age and it happens slowly.

The rest of the wagon ride was Ma and Pa switching on and off and telling me about where we live. Kevin explained that I would like it better because I have more family to meet and that where we lived was fairly close to the capital of Pheivrax, Ouzlemstead. I curled up to Kevin for the remainder of the ride. It was over so quick, but I suppose that's because my mind was racing the speed of light as I watched the world unknown to me move slowly as we passed, unfazed by our presence. I was busy in my head, even if the reality of it was it took over ten hours to get to the city I was told is home.

Ma was riding the horse when we made it into a thick winding jungle with a thin path barely wide enough for the wagon to pass through safely. And only one wagon at a time. As we went deeper into the overgrown forest it grew darker due to the thick canopy above us, the sounds of nature were easy to hear. Chirping of many different birds, the sounds of water flowing freely nearby, the heavy humid air smelt like dirt and horse crap. There were so many shades of green and many many bright colors for so many flowers, each kind unique and completely different from the others.

We passed through a large stone gate that opened slowly and made me cling to Kevin more, the gate was thick rock doors with many carvings in them and a group of guards on the inside of the cave guarding the gate. As it opened it sounded like rock in rock, not the most pleasant noise but not the worst either. Inside the cave, beyond that gate was a very small gathering of guards and small buildings, it was dark but lit up by some kind of glowing stones that were dangling from the stalactites above. The guards wore thick leather clothing under heavy shiny armor. One of them smiled warmly at me when they noticed me.

"Who's the new kid, Enron?" One of them asked and smiled at Pa.

Pa grinned rather proudly, why I wasn't sure. "That there is my daughter Pyper. She's our newest addition to the family." He boasted. He patted me on the head and Ma butted in

"Kevin found the poor girl begging for food on the outskirts of a village, so we took her in instead of giving food. A good home is better than food any day." She smiled calmly and the guards nodded and helped her lead the horse and wagon over to a big stable. "Ruby needs her hooves cleaned and a nice brushing, and the right wheel of the wagon is loose. Other than that. The trip went as planned and all deliveries were made." My stated and got off the horse and handed some coins to a guard before the guard nodded and got some stuff out to start fixing the wagon and another helping with cleaning the horse. The other guards had already closed the gate and locked it with large steel and rock pillars that sat across it horizontally.

Kevin helped me off the wagon and Pa got the cart out from a storage slot under the wagon, and then put it together with some bolts, a rather easy process. He then put the goods into the cart, and then Kevin sat me in it as well. After everything as ready to go and Ma was satisfied with the care Ruby was getting Pa pulled the wagon over to a staircase that wasn't very steep and went farther into the earth. Kevin helped guide the cart down the stairs so it wouldn't fall and I wouldn't get killed in the process. Ma was checking everything in the little notebook and scribbling a few things down.

The way down wasn't very entertaining and seemed to take longer than it actually did. I played with Squiggles. I stopped and my eyes seemed to glimmer as I looked around once we reached the bottom of the stairs and made it into the underground city. Velcpool was beautiful. Or at least to me it was. The pathway was oddly fitted shiny stones that led up steps and down streets, there were holes in the ceiling of the large cave, holes that were closed off like vents but allowed air to flow in and light - and water through some. There were buildings that stirred up from the ground, some looked like they were carved from a rock and some were made of rocks, others made of wood.

There were paths that led to walkways along the sides of the large opening, and in the walls were shops and taverns and houses, and there were also walkways leading into the air where some buildings were on platforms that were held up by struts under them, but pillars of stone and or wood. There was a big fountain in the center of the city. And everywhere were bustling dwarves. Even Qunari were just doing their own job. Kevin smiled and leaned close from the back of the cart and whispered.

"Welcome, home Pyper." He said softly and smiled before helping lead the cart down the busy streets and to a large stone building, looking at the sign that hung above the door it read; Ol' Bear Tavern. I didn't question the name right away. Kevin helped me out of the cart and I wobbled using him as support. Ma helped Pa and the cart inside and then Kevin and me before flipping the sign on the inside of the door to open. Kevin sat me on a tall stool and smiled at me. "So, what do you think so far?"

I couldn't help but grin in utter joy as I replied: "I love it already." I stated and smiled. "its good to be home" I giggled as if I had been here before. It certainly felt like it, like I should have always been living with them,

Pa vanished upstairs after Ma had gotten the cart into the kitchen. Ma appeared on the other side of the counter "Your uncle will be over to meet you soon. He's usually always over as soon as he can when we get back." She grinned "You two can play a little but stay in the house, I'll fix up some supper and then hopefully by your bedtime Pa will have your bedroom fixed up for both of ya, you'll be sharing for now." she stated and smiled before kissing our foreheads and heading off back into the kitchen. I looked over the counter to find a small wooden walkway that was able to be pulled out from under the counter and pushed back in, that way Ma could stand on it and her hips were leveled with the counter.

Kevin got off the stool and helped me down "I want you to meet our - extended family. They're seen as servants or slaves by the government but we treat them more like any other person, so don't worry." he smiled and helped me as we headed across the room, passing the tables in the room and then moving down a hall. He knocked on a door at the end of it and we waited.

A few short minutes later a boy opened the door, he was older but not by much, and a qunari. He smiled softly at Kevin then gave a questionable glance to me. "I see your home...Who is this? A friend?"

Kevin shook his head and grinned "nope. This is Pyper. My new baby sister." He stated rather proudly "I thought you and your family would like to meet our newest addition." He smiled and the boy nodded but didn't look very pleased that I was a new addition.

"Yea, come on in. I'll get everyone around so we can meet you, Pyper." He smiled slightly and then headed inside. Kevin followed and led me inside. Beyond the door was a living room, and possibly an entire other house. Kevin led me over to a chair and sat be down.

"Don't worry, these people are our extended family. And not all of them will have Jarvass' reaction." He stated and stood next to my chair. It didn't take long before a young girl came thumping down the stairs and she ran up to me. She was around my age and when the girl reached the bottom of the stairs she stopped on a dime and looked at me in awe. She looked really happy, her frame was thick and wide, she was chubby like me. Her Qunari horns weren't grown in yet, her hair was longer than mine but sloppily cut and reddish gold, with brown highlights. Her eyes were like deep ocean pockets in her skull. Her skin was rather pale, like almost everyone in the city. She was much taller than me, however.

"You're the new girl right?!" She said happily and nearly bolted over "I'm Dinah. whats your name? Jarvass wouldn't tell me!" She squealed and an older qunari male walked in with a chuckle, coming down the same set of stairs. A woman followed and so did Jarvass and another Jarvass... er... Jarvass' twin?

I gave a smile and giggled "Pyper." I replied in a near whisper and the girl seemed to stare in awe at my name. She whispered it to herself a few times and then giggled. Letting the word dance off her tongue and tingle her lips. She was as curious as I.

"Well Pyper, I'm Nazaarad. This is my wife Sanide, I'm sure you've met Jarvass, and this is his twin Marojan. And of course, you've just met Dinah." Nazaarad said calmly. His horns were long, they grew backward and rounded his face like he was a ram too. His hair was a reddish color, but had gold highlights in it, it was spiked a little and very short. The man's eyes were calm and welcoming, he himself was very very well built and seemed like he could lift the house itself. His attire was like Pa's but with an apron.

Looking to Jarvass and Marojan, they looked like they were the same person, Both had their horns growing in and they were thin and slightly muscular, even if they were young still. They were rather tall for a kid, but then again they were of the qun. Their hair was a light brown almost blonde, unlike mine. Their hair also was very similar to their fathers in style. They both had brownish gold eyes. Talk about identical it was hard to tell who was who. They both wore the same clothes as their father.

I turned my gaze to Sanide who had curling horns, both black and very beautiful. They framed her face and her eyes were big and a golden like color. She was very fit and rather buff, her hair was a light brown like the twins but much longer, growing out in thin silky locks from anywhere around her horns and framing her face with her horns in thin strands of straight silky locks. She wore clothes similar to Ma's.

"It's very nice to meet you all, " I said happily and Kevin smiled.

"Nazaarad helps Pa with the bar from time to time or helps with deliveries around the city. Even helps in the mines with uncle Simon. Jarvass and Marojan help wherever they're allowed too, along with me as company, Dinah and Sanide help Ma with the bar and waitressing in the tavern. Which you'll be doing too." Kevin explained and gave a smile. Everyone settles down around the living room and Sanide spoke up.

Sanide's voice was soft and gentle, but loud and assertive. "So Pyper, how did Enron and Ferinda come to adopting you?" she asked with a hint of curiosity in her voice. Kevin smiled softly and looked at me curious himself on what story I'd be able to spin.

All of a sudden I started to talk about something that almost seemed like it actually happened, I almost tricked myself too believing this. "My grandfather was taking care of me since my parents died because of a bandit attack on the way to the village. He was ill but managed until I was three, he... he died shortly before my third birthday and I was sent to an orphanage that kicked me out because they had no room. So I was a beggar on the streets of the village. I wasn't allowed to claim any of my grandfather's possessions and with no known family I stayed on the streets." I paused and looked from my feet, at which I had been absentmindedly staring at since my mouth had opened, and up to the others. They all looked rather shocked. "I only have my nug. A baker lady gave me the toy after her daughter passed from a terrible sickness shortly after birth. So I was allowed to eat scraps... until they found out I was an elf. Which was a month ago... I think."

I kicked my feet a little and shrugged my shoulders "Then Kevin found me on the streets with Ma and Pa, I asked for food. Instead, they decided to give me more than food, but a home." I suppose I had gained the sympathy of the rude looking twins because both of them looked rather shocked and baffled by my little story. They all believed it. That's what mattered. "and... now I'm here." I finished and looked at them all, then to Kevin. Kevin looked impressed and shocked, mostly impressed.

Kevin nodded a little "Yea, she was pretty tired most of the ride back, but with some food she's all good. I hope Pyper warms up to you guys as easily as she warmed up to us." He said and patted my head. "we also need help with finding some middle names for Pyper, or a few other first names maybe. Ma wants her to have a long name like her." he explained and they all nodded. Before anyone could speak again Ma's voice rang through the house.

"Dinner!" She called, I was curious on what she had made. Everyone got up and Kevin helped me walk back, everyone left the room and went to the dining room...er, the tavern. Ma had put a few tables together and had sat the table, there were bowls and a big pot of soup. Everyone seated themselves and Kevin helped me into a chair next to him, and on the other side of me was Dinah. I watched Pa wobble down the stairs and join us all.

Kevin smiled as Ma opened the door and a man about Pa's size but a little more hefty and slightly older came in. He was wearing thicker leather, covered in soot and dust. He had fiery red hair and a thick mustache and beard. He wore nearly no shirt and his belly hair showed. His eyes were a blue color and his facial features were similar to Ma's. He also joined us at the table along with Ma. Ma introduced me and the man gave a jolly smile. This was uncle Simon. Pa had everyone join hands and we all silently prayed to Andraste and thanked her and the maker for the meal. I had never done this before. The palace and my parents didn't really practice any religion.

After that, I had to stand on my chair and lean over the table a little but I was able to get a ladle full into my bowl before sitting down and starting to eat the new food curiously. It was white, and thick, and salty. It had chunks of meat in it, and some carrots and potatoes. It was some sort of soup. I looked to Kevin but decided I'd ask later. Pa and Nazaarad started to talk about the mines, and Simon quickly joined with interest. Dinah and Kevin pulled me into a conversation as well.

"So, after dinner is bedtime. In the morning are you two willing to come outside and play with me before Ma opens the tavern up? I want to introduce the gang to Pyper." Kevin smiled and Dinah nodded frantically

"Yes, I'll get up early too so we can have more time to have Pyper meet everyone! Hopefully, Pyper doesn't get angry at Doreian." Dinah giggled "Excuse me. Prank Master Doreian. He's so silly the "pranks" he pulls aren't even good ones." She said and Kevin laughed.

"Well, I hope I can be friends with all of your guys' friends. How many are there?" I asked softly and Kevin started to count on his fingers while naming the people off.

"Let's see, there's E, Prank Master Doreian, Penny, Orana, Dinah, me... and every now and then we get Jarvass and Marojan to tag along. But they don't like to hang out with us a lot. Guess they're too cool or something." he stated with clear sarcasm "but I'm sure our other friends will love to meet you." He said rather proudly. He then continued to eat his food.

Dinah decided to tell me a little about these friends. "E is a redheaded boy we know, he's super nice and helps his sick mum with her tailor shop. Penny and Orana are twin elves with black hair but they purposely try to look different, but you can still tell they are twins. Doreian is a blonde boy that likes to pull tricks on everyone, or at least try to. He's rather sensitive but normally he's in high spirits. He's taller than most dwarf boys our age because he's half human, his grandma and his brother live far away while he and his aunt live here. His real mom lives somewhere else with half brothers, and we aren't sure about their real dad. Penny and Orana live in a nearby village of surfacers, their parents are blacksmiths. They're all rather nice." She smiled happily and I nodded. Then after a moment of silence, we both went back to eating.

It didn't take long, one by one everyone slowly peeled away from the table when they were done and cleaned their own bowl and put it away before retreating to their sleeping quarters. Pa and uncle Simon went upstairs and Kevin pulled me to the kitchen with Ma to help with the rest of the dishes and putting away the leftovers. Ma had us put the leftovers in the icebox, a small room with cooling crystals along the edges and shelves for food and beverages. Ma put the dishes up with our help then Kevin and Ma led me upstairs and passed a few rooms until we made it to the open door that was mine and Kevin's room. Pa had made up my bed, which was on the other side of the room, opposite of Kevin's. I had a mattress and a spare quilt, along with a pillow. Kevin had about the same thing and a little dragon toy on his bed, waiting for him.

I walked over and smiled then looked to Ma curiously who chuckled. "Now now, Kevin needs to grab some clothes, and you too. You'll have to use one of Kevin's shirts for now. Or if that doesn't fit you'll have to use one of Jarvass or Marojan's shirts until I get some clothes for you little missy." she smiled and patted my head. Kevin gathered night shirts for the both of us. Ma then headed across the hall and to the bathroom, Pa and uncle Simon followed and grabbed the oversized wooden bucket and headed out to get us some fresh hot water. From where I was unsure of but hey, why complain.

I walked over to my bed and sat my nug toy down in it before looking at Kevin. "How do we know if the shirt will fit?" I asked curiously and tilted my head as I looked to my brother for an answer. He merely shrugged and responded with

"Guess we'll find out when you try it on." he smiled and waited for Ma to come and get us for our baths. "I hope you don't mind. Ma is probably going to bathe us together..." he said softly and I smiled

"We'll be bath buddies, it's better than bathing alone. That way bath time won't be boring." I said rather cheerfully. Being young and naive I guess it didn't occur to me that being different genders and in a bath together wasn't the most normal thing. But we were kids. Who cared?

Kevin laughed a little and nodded "Yea, and we can have sibling conversations. And no one will know, but Ma of course when she checks up on us." he said softly and smiled before Ma walked in and Kevin motioned me to follow. My foot felt better to walk on now, though I was still wobbling and the pain was still there, but it as duller now. Once we were in the bathroom Ma helped us both undress and then helped us into the suds and water. Ma helped a little before leaving and telling us not to try and get out on our own.

Kevin helped with scrubbing my hair "So, do you like it here. I mean, it's better than the castle, but do you like it here so far?" he asked curiously while massaging the soap into my hair. I nodded as a response

"Yea, it's nice here. We have a lot of family and I can't wait to meet your friends." I smiled softly, having my back toward him while he washed my hair and my back for me. A few questions from earlier popped into my head "Hey Kevin?"

"Hm?"

"What was that stuff we ate for dinner?" I asked softly and looked back at him a little before looking forward again and starting to wash my front side and my legs, pretty much anything I could reach myself.

"Oh. That was potato soup. Ma is the best at making it." He said rather proudly

"And...was that man uncle Simon?" I looked back at him again and he nodded "He works in the mines?" he nodded again "What stuff can we get from the mines?"

Kevin smiled softly "all kinds of shiny things, depending on how deep you go. Mostly obsidian and iron, sometimes we get some rubies or sapphires, and the occasional emerald but mostly obsidian and iron." He said and then I added

"And rocks." He laughed softly and nodded, we both smiled and then laughed some more. I closed my eyes as he warned me to and then using a cup he poured some water over my head and back to get the soap out. Once it was out we switched jobs his back toward me now. I did for him as he did for me, along with playing with his horns a little, and his ears. "So does uncle Simon hang around often?"

Kevin nodded "Yea, he's always around. But Ma says it didn't use to be that way. He used to be an explorer when they were younger, til he got married and came back here to help with the tavern and the mines. by then Ma had gotten married to Pa. Uncle Simon's wife died giving birth to our cousin who also died in the process. So he just sticks around here now and helps out as he can." he said softly and smiled a little and started to wash hat he could himself.

"What was her name?"

"Duno. You'll have to ask uncle Simon for that one. But it's not something he talks about regularly." he said quietly and continued what he was doing.

I thought for a little bit and then once I was done scrubbing the soap on Kevin's back and massaging it into his hair I warned him that I was about to rinse it out and he closed his eyes before I used the same cup and filled it with water then poured it over his head and back a few times to get the soap our of his hair and off his back. We then washed up the rest of ourselves with no other help and he asked about my ankle a few times. Ma came in and helped us out since we were done and she helped us dry off and then get dressed.

Kevin's shirt he had given me was an old one of his and was a little big on me but it worked for a nightgown. We then raced to the bedroom and Ma walked over and tucked us each in while singing softly a song in dwarvish. It was a lullaby her mother used to sing to her and uncle Simon.

Before I knew it I found myself fast asleep, the only last feeling I had before falling asleep was a gentle kiss on my forehead and that was it. I tightened my grip around my nug, though, just in case. 


	2. Chapter Two - Hero

It had been four years now since the girl I hated had vanished into thin air like no one knew her. Since that very girl became a thing of the past. Since I became a thing of the past.

Shortly after Princess Xeal's "disappearance" everyone was in an uproar about it. The poor young princess. But like everything, the disappearance faded from everyone's mind and mouth months after. Along with the talk of the princess fading, Ma, Kevin, Pa, and I explained to the rest of the family I was actually the princess. But Sanide said that outside of the family it would be good to stick to my original story. No one was angry I had lied at first since it was either that or risk being sent back to that awful palace.

I was rather happy about that. And within a few weeks of living with Ma and Pa, I already had new friends and chores. I was enrolled in Kevin's school shortly after I turned five, we used my birthday as the day I became a family member.

Uncle Simon gave me a middle name after I had started asking questions about my decided aunt and cousin. And Sanide gave me a name as well, giving me two middle names. So far my full name had extended to Pyper Maiva Fadaan Raesca. Maiva was the name of uncle Simons late wife. He said I looked so much like her, he wanted me to be his little "MaiMai". A nickname he gave in favor of the middle name. Fadaan was what Sanide wanted to name Dinah but Nazaarad named her instead since she named the boys.

All the kids in the house went to school, but due to the fact that the twins and Dinah were technically slaves, Pa and Ma had to pay for their schooling. Which wasn't that bad.

Being Eight my vocabulary had expanded widely, and my ability to read has as well. Pa even built me a bookshelf! I didn't own a lot of books, however, most books I read I borrowed from the nearby library.

As I recapped my thoughts I was brought back to reality when a sharp pain came to my head. I reached up, pulling my right hand from the water of the stream and put my hand over the wound. I pulled away a moment and then put it back over it.

Warm. It was warm and wet, and it stung and pulsated under my hand. Pulling it away again I looked at it. I wasn't sure what had happened until another sharp pain came to my ribs on my right side. Then a thud followed. I looked down to find a sharp stone had hit me, two had.

I was currently knelt down at the stream's side near the surface washing some clothes. Ma allowed me to wash the clothes since it wasn't supposed to be a very dangerous task to do alone.

I turned around without moving my lower half, only twisting my body from the hips. My eyes locked with hate filled dark green eyes. It was a boy from class, and glancing beside him, on both sides were his lackeys. I gulped harshly and pulled the soaked clothes from the stream and started to put them back in the basket so I could get up and leave.

As I did so a few more rocks hit me, then a low growl came from the boy and as I began to get up to leave he bolted forward and slammed a rock against my spine between my shoulders, knocking me to the ground and causing the basket to fall from my hands. I let out a loud yelp of pain and tried to get back up only to hear his laughing and gain a swift kick to the ribs. Soon I heard a few girls laughing as well.

"What a looser. I doubt she's even their kid. Stupid elf is probably a slave just like those stupid Qunari brats." One of them snickered.

"What a waste of time, the maker could have made someone more useful! She probably can't do anything besides wash clothes and wait on tables!" A girl yelled and laughed and one of the lackeys continued to taunt

"She probably doesn't even know anything about elves, she probably can't even read elven!" I didn't. They were right. As I tried to get up again I was kicked down again but by two different people. I didn't have my nug with me, no dagger, no protection.

"What a looser. I bet she can't even do her job right either. And that stupid satyr probably only hangs out with her because he and his ugly friends know she's never going to find anyone to be her friend if they don't be her friend" a bit claimed "She probably had to beg them. They pity her existence too. What a shame."

"I feel sorry for her, having to look at that face every morning." A girl hissed in disgust and anther added

"Not even makeup could fix that" she snorted. They gathered around me. My heart pounded and tears began to cloud my vision, pain filled my body as they all started to kick me and spit on me, laughing, calling me more names.

"Look she's crying! Cry baby, cry baby!" They soon chanted repeatedly and laughed. Hit salty tears burned my cheeks and stung my eyes, a mixture of blood and snot ran from my nose, I tried to cover my head and face with my hands and arms but soon they used rocks and someone pulled a dagger out.

All at once everything stopped. I heard a shriek and then everyone scattered. Yelling, pleading, crying. Mercy.

I tried to move so I could run as well but the pain quickly returned. My hands were numb from being blocked together, I was bleeding from my nose and my hands, and a few wounds on my body. Trying to move my arms was hell. My left arm wouldn't move, every time I tried to lift it I helplessly yelped again, like a hurt dog. Broken. My arm was broken. I started to try and move my legs to get up with my one good arm. But I collapsed immediately. Blistering hot pain, splintering into the skin from inside an un-torn shell of flesh. Broken. My right leg was also broken. It hurt. I screamed in pain every time I tried to move. My back wasn't any help either. In three or four spots there was nothing but pain. My body was hot but the blood and my sweat were cold.

"Don't move." Someone stated quietly. Cracking my eyes open as I obeyed, it was Jarvass. He knelt down and surveyed the damage. His big brown gold eyes filled with regret and sorrow. He had a dagger in his right hand. He had been the one with the dagger. I hadn't noticed him before.

He pulled his shirt off and began ripping it into strips of cloth and wrapping up where I was bleeding as tight as he could without cutting off circulation. He pulled all the clothes into the basket and picked me up in his arms and grabbed the basket with one hand, he then hurried off. His hands had blood on them, not mine either. He had a few bits and bruises himself from fighting off the others. But before I could question anything I had blacked out in his arms to him begging me to stay awake. Was he crying?

~~~~time skip~~~~

Slowly I lifted my heavy eyelids, they fell shut after barely cracking them open. A few more failed attempts and soon my eyes fluttered open. First, confusion. Where was I. Glancing around, in bed, back home? Why? I looked over to a sleeping Kevin. He was asleep at my bedside. Snoring lightly like always.

I tried to move. Pain shot through me, I gritted my teeth and muffled a squeal, trying not to wake my brother. As the pain came back I remembered. The memory of what happened came back. I was doing chores, cleaning the laundry and the stream at the surface. Then I was attacked by bullies from school. Then... Then Jarvass saved me. Jarvass! Was he okay?! He got hurt too!

I panicked and tried to force myself out of bed only to have Kevin stir and shoot up from his chair and force me back into bed in once swift motion.

"Whoa there sis, you need to rest. Stay put." He said sternly. I glanced over myself. My left arm was wrapped up as well as my right leg, wrapped in herbs. I had been stripped of everything but my undergarments and covered in healing medicine and herbs. I made a whine and looked to Kevin "Let me go get Ma, and you stay right there. Do. Not. Move. I'll be right back." He stated

"Bu-" I started

"No." And with that. I was alone in the room. The clicking of my brother's hooves slowly faded down the hall. I huffed heavily and pulled the worn nug toy into my hand and onto my stomach, I was slightly elevated from my shoulders up, and my leg was also elevated along with my arm. Both broken limbs had cold meat bags on them, trying to keep the pain from returning.

I ran my puffy trembling fingers along the seams of the nug toy. I regretted not bringing Squiggles with me. Slowly I ran my fingers down his belly and to the open, yet well hidden, tear in the precious toy. Slowly I dipped my fingers in, lonely throbbing nubs searching for the cool metallic hilt that was wrapped in thick velvet for a comfortable grip that had worn grooved for my fingers to slide right in. Though the wondering tips of my swollen wrapped fingers didn't find what they had been seeking.

Giving a questionable look to the toy I tilted it upside down and used my index and my thumb to open the little hole for my hidden blade. It was missing! A sudden shift of emotional despair hit my heart like a poison arrow. My thoughts reeled. I liked to play with it from time to time, did I forget it somewhere?! Sudden panic made me pant and wheeze, the shattered ribs and all the bandages constricting my heavy breaths. I pulled Squiggles close to my chest as tears began to sting my eyes once more.

The dagger was given to me by Kevin on my first day into the family. And I had lost it. One of the few things so dear to me and it was gone forever. I didn't know what to do. Kevin surely would hate me forever for losing the one present he gave me for my own protection when they first adopted me, and the blade was his, to begin with, and I lost it! He'd hate me for sure! Oh, how would I explain this? Grief flooded my heart and I began to sob heavily. Panting, wheezing, crying, sniffling, and shaking. I had no idea what to do. I was older now and smarter, but still vulnerable to the fearful unknown of what could happen.

Kevin came back in after a while, I hadn't heard his hooves as he had neared so I had no time to attempt to calm myself. He rushed over and sat on the edge of the bed and wrapped his arms around me, trying to avoid my wounds and broken arm as he pulled me close and petted my hair. "Hey, hey, hey..." He cooed and frowned in confusion "Whats with the water works sis?" he asked in a hushed tone.

Slowly I calmed myself, taking in the scent of my half goat brother, the smell of sweaty ram and some sort of mineral from the mines. "I-I lost the dagger..."

"Pyper. Jarvass has the dagger, he used it to protect you. He has to take it to the blacksmith to get it repaired, the tip broke off in the fight." he said softly and patted my head gently " I'm glad he saved you. It's too early to be losing my little sister after all." he chuckled "Why were you worried about losing the dagger anyway? I could always get you a new one." he said calmly

"B-because it's the first thing you gave me! I thought you'd be angry if I lost it." I frowned, now calm and only sniffling occasionally I looked up at my brother with confusion bus still sadness.

"You're my sister. I rather have you safe than that dagger." He kissed my forehead and hugged me tighter. Ma and Pa walked in soon after.

Ma came over and looked me over then checked my forehead for a fever with the back of her hand "You've been out for days dear, how are you feeling. Can we get you anything? I'll go make you some food and get you some water, or if you're not hungry now maybe I could get you Kevin's pillow for more support?" Ma was frantic and worried, and slightly pacing the floor. Pa pushed passed her and petted my hair

"Kevin wouldn't leave your side, not even when the healers showed up. You're not allowed to go to the surface without Jarvass there to protect you from now on. There is no way my little flower is being crushed because of some school bullies." he paused and his eyes hardened under his bushy brows "Speaking of, we need to get the names of those brats. And we should also get you some hand to hand training. Just incase something like this ever happens again." He stated and Ma's face paled

"What?! No, she should not! She's a lady, not a ruffian!" Ma hissed through clenched teeth and Pa huffed and cupped her hands.

"We have no choice Ferinda, they could have killed her. If she doesn't learn some way to protect herself how is she suppose to save herself when no one else is around?" he asked softly with a pouting frown under his mustache. Ma couldn't argue, she sighed heavily and muttered something in dwarvish before leaving the room. Pa huffed and turned to me. "Kevin will help you with your crutch and such so you can get to moving around again. I'll see you at dinner Pyper" he said softly and ruffled my hair before heading after Ma.

Kevin picked me up in his arms and moved me to the chair so he could put the old bandana around my arm and neck for support, making a makeshift sling. He then went to the door and grabbed what looked like a cane for an old man, or maybe an old mage. He came back over and helped me to my feet, letting me wobble around and such. "If you need me, just yell." He stated with a look that he gave me only when he really didn't want to leave my side. One that said 'please don't get hurt again'.

I let out a giggle and smiled "Well before I do anything I need to get dressed. Would be weird if I walked downstairs in nothing but herbs and my underpants." I pointed out and he laughed with me before helping me get some clothes out and pull them on over my bandaged body. Thankfully it wasn't that painful or hard to do. I decided an easy to slip on-and-off dress, a pink one I wore on occasions when I could. It was light and strapless, it was pink and white with little flowers on it here and there. I smiled and looked at Kevin "well, at least its something that doesn't mess with the bandages much." he nodded and petted my hair before I headed off and he followed. Down the hall and down the stairs. Once I reached the bottom I looked around at the customers in the tavern, all of them were pretty calm and basically doing their own thing, whether along or in a group.

I parted ways with Kevin as he headed to help Ma out with the tavern and I decided to slink away, I made it to the door to leave the tavern before Pa caught me. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to go to the library..." I said softly, though I was lying. I didn't want Pa to think I was weak just because I got beat up by a few bullies. I'm still the fiery Pyper... right? He nodded and patted my hair

"Be safe Pyper." He said softly and smiled at me before giving me a wink and letting me leave, he helped me out of the door, after that, I was all on my own. Wheat he said was new, "be safe", he never used to tell me that until I got attacked. It was always, "Ruff it up girlie", or "Give em' the old one-two if they mess with my lil' girl!" I hated change. I didn't like that Pa thought I wasn't strong anymore. But that didn't ruin my pride any.

I wobbled down the smoothly pathed stone path. The road was wide, wide enough for wagons, big ones. Every year we had a festival in honor of the great alliance between all three kingdoms. It was brought to an alliance in 4:42 Stone. Stone was the equivalent of Black - time wise of course. We throw a big festival in hopes the alliance will never be broken.

I smile at the thought of the festivals I have been able to attend, pretty dresses and everyone dancing, people doing tricks and singing. It's lovely to go because not only people from the city come, but nearby villages, surfacers, and some people come from the other side of Pheirvax just to attend the festival here with their families. It's something that really makes someone proud to live here. Shaking the memories of the festivals I looked around at the other buildings. So many great memories.

Doreian liked to pull random "pranks" on me, and all pranks took place all over the city, very few happened at the hangout. Which was actually just the cellar at E's house. I remember how I had once got pelted with baked potatoes and he put some sour cream on me and before I could freak out he ran away yelling "It was just a prank bro!". completely pointless and not really a prank but it makes him happy so I guess I can see the humor in it.

E was by far one of the closest people to me besides Kevin and Dinah - but they live with me so they don't count. E's real name is Edric, he's pretty cool for a guy and my favorite fashionista. He has blood red hair, cut short the way his mother likes it, and ice blue eyes, his body is more like a woman's so far - though his mom claims it's just because he's young. Edric's mother is a tailor and sometimes makes clothes for nobles, this is because she's very precise about her work. E is training to take over for her later when she is unable to continue her work. Which won't be for a long time. He and I spend a lot of time talking about our favorite authors in the local library and we often read together, sometimes even the same series and when done we discuss everything. And when we aren't discussing books we discuss our dreams on the future. He wants to be the best tailor in Pheirvax, and I want to be a brave explorer with Kevin, unraveling the mysteries of life itself. Which is a big task to concur but I already am ready to do so. E thinks my head is so far in the clouds my imagination is blurry with unrealistic things.

Penny and Orana are pretty cool friends, both the same but completely different. Penny has short black hair and keeps in with no pins or anything, mainly messy. Her left eye is bright green while her right is dark blue, she's a ball of energy and likes to wear loose fitting clothes that cover most of her body, she enjoys ambushing friends and climbing around. Orana has long black hair and keeps it in a ponytail, very neat as well. Her left eye is a bright ice blue while her right eye is a dark green, like Penny she has a lot of energy but the difference is she keeps it well stored. Orana likes tight fitting clothes and elegance rather than random clothes like her sister, she tends to be the more serious of the sisters. Once again, both the same but completely different.

I kept walking, my friends would probably know of my current condition. I'm sure either Dinah or Kevin had told them all, more than likely Dinah due to Kevin not leaving my side while I was unconscious. But my thoughts rerouted themselves to my original destination. I needed to see Jarvass. I wobbled slowly up the staircase to the gate room, it took longer than I would have liked it too. I'm leaving to the surface, without permission, because I need to see Jarvass. I know what your thinking, why not check something like his room first? Well, because I know Jarvass. He wouldn't be in his room right now, not after that, he's in his hideout. I only knew where it was because on my seventh birthday Jarvass took me to the surface when at the time I wasn't aloud and he took me to his hideout so I could see the fireflies and the stars. I secretly have an obsession with anything shiny or sparkly and especially things soft and fluffy, even if I try to be tougher than I actually am.

We had spent the whole night there, and he showed me as many constellations as he could. Anyone in the family would know I had a love for learning, so it was hands down the best birthday I had ever had.

Though Jarvass was confusing, at least to me anyway. One moment he was really nice, the next moment he didn't want me around at all. I guess it's because he's older, by four years. He's even older than Kevin - by two years.

I looked at the guards with a warm smile, I was still shorter than a full grown dwarf, but Kevin was slightly shorter than me still, so I didn't complain.

"Hey little miss, so the dead walks now eh?" One of them laughed softly at their joke and I giggled in my own amusement

"I suppose so. But I didn't die, takes a lot more than a few kids kicks me around to keep me in a grave!" He boasted bravely and they laughed a little and patted my head

"That a girl Pyper! Yer shapin' up to be just ' like yer daddy." Another spoke rather happily, I recognized her however, that was Meggan, she was always good at her job. All of them were, but Meggan was the chief. She and Pa grew up together. They, of course, opened the gate for me and I waddled out and then headed off down the hard unforgiving-on-bare-feet dirt path.

Good thing I had great memory or I'd get lost easily. I wobbled off the path and into the brush, having to take my steps slower so I wouldn't fall over due to the scattered twigs and debris. It was hard to walk the path in the brush but I wanted - no, I needed, to see Jarvass. Eventually, I worked my way into the familiar clearing, I gave a soft huff of relief and glanced around. The clearing was fairly small but big enough. It had a nice stream running through it, and lots of flowers. I looked over to the large tree in the center of the field, and in the center of the stream, bending its current to its will and forcing it to supply life to the monstrous giant. The water ran over the thick roots that coiled into the ground and kept going, from one end of the clearing to the other, attempting to avoid the tree but effortlessly making its presence known and dancing around the tree, completely surrounding it. Small fish ran with the water, but nothing very big. Frogs were sometimes present but the stream was mostly used by bigger wildlife that would need to stop and get a quick drink.

The tree itself was home to wildlife, the millions of outstretched thick arms for branches held many birds nests, and allowed many many bugs to burrow inside the wood. I looked from the top of the tree back to the bottom, some knots in the tree were open, little dens for squirrels, how cute. And the roots. You'd think it was a rabbit burrow. But no. It was Jarvass' thick hiding hole.

I carefully waited into the stream and wobbled over, trying to not slip on the stones, or topple over because of the water that gently pushed on my legs and feet, beckoning me to follow it. Instead, I kept wobbling forward, to the well-hidden entrance of the burrow. The roots of the tree kept the water out, and the entrance was hidden by a curtain of loose roots. Thankfully there was a mound of dirt big enough to keep the water from sliding on in and drowning Jarvass.

Once I was right next to the opening I knocked on the wood just above it. "Knock knock, anyone home?" I asked softly with a slight smile, of course, I knew he was here. I may be small and young but I'm not stupid, and he knew that. I had to wait a few agonizing moments before I heard a loud sigh and a few things moving around before Jarvass popped his head out.

"Why are you out here? You could get hurt again, and you might actually die this time!" He snapped, he looked like he hadn't slept much.

I rolled my eyes "Yea yea. Can I come in or not? I mean unless your going to lecture me like everyone else has basically done today." I stated a little unamused. I would have preferred a "how did you find me?" Or an "oh your awake" rather than that Bologna.

Jarvass huffed again, he nodded then crawled out so he could help me. Once he was out I was able to see him better, due to him not being in the dark shade of the hiding holes entrance. The left side of his face was swollen and he had a black eye, his lip had dried blood on it and he had herbs on his nose, it had been busted in two spots. He had a few scratches on his arms and neck and face but those looked to be from nails and not that bad of wounds. Then my eyes hit it. The worst part. One of his horns had broken off. I frowned at him and he gave me an odd look.

"Would you quit staring at me? I thought you wanted to go inside not stare at me like a weirdo." He said quietly, ashamed of how he looked. He didn't want to talk about it clearly. He was trying to make a joke but inevitably failed to do so.

I smiled slightly anyway and gave him a hug, wrapping my one good arm around his waist and snuggling close, as if I were hugging Kevin. "Your the one who saved this weirdo. It's not my fault." I giggled and looked up at him.

He cracked a grin, a few teeth were missing - but thankfully they weren't adult teeth. "Hey, your the weirdo that tried to walk away from being pelted by rocks like those people weren't actually there." He said softly and wrapped his arms around me, his expression changed to curious and worried "what were you thinking anyway? That they would just let you walk away? And you didn't even scream or fight back! Why didn't you do anything in defense? It was like they were kicking a sack of potatoes." He frowned and lifted a hand to push my bangs back so he could see my eyes clearly

I shrugged "It's not like I haven't had them attack me before, it just wasn't as bad before. Mostly just them calling me names and pushing me around then leaving. But they hadn't made me bleed before. So I guess... I guess I lost my voice?" I said, shrugging it off like it was nothing "and why does it matter, it's in the past. And you were there to save me, so it's not like anything permanent happened, right?" I looked down "thanks for that by the way." I mumbled, half of me didn't want him to hear, guess it was the pride in me not wanting to admit I needed help with something for once. Jarvass ran his hand the rest of the way through my hair and he nodded, watching my bangs fall back into place effortlessly.

"Anytime." He said before scouting me up into his arms and crawling into the entrance while crouched. I had made some sort of squeak, whether it had been an attempt at retorting or just out of sheer surprise is beyond me.

Once inside he sat me down in a pile of hay and quilts. He had a few things down here. A torch, which he kept in an area away from any of the flammable things - which was hard when everything, even the burrow, was flammable. But he made due by carving out a little home for it in the dirt in the wall like area, no roots near it so nothing burned and no hay or blankets near the hole either. He had some books and some clothes to change into. He also had my dagger, still broken, and uncleaned. Jarvass took a spot next to me and smiled a little before picking up a book he seemed to be a few pages into already.

I couldn't help my curiosity and I scooted closer to try and peek at the pages to read what it was, and at the same time my mouth spontaneously decided to ask as well "What'cha readin'?" I asked softly and peaked over his arm and at the book on his hands.

"A book." He stated calmly.

He knew this irritated me. "I can see that. What kind?" I asked softly and looked from the pages to his face as he looked at me with a slight smile

"Fiction." He said and smirked, he was dancing around my questions and my temper was growing short

"Jarvass! Stop playing stupid!" I hissed and he chuckled before continuing on

"Whatever do you mean? I'm simply answering your questions." He said softly and poked my nose

I snapped at his finger with my teeth but missed by mere centimeters "You know what I mean. What's the book called?"

"Drowning in Knives." He stated simply before directing his attention back to the book, this time being more serious and not playing around with me "It's about a man named Kikumo who lost his eldest sister to a rogue assassin, so he goes rogue himself to try and track down the guy who killed her..... I'm not that far into the book, though." He said softly and stopped for a moment before looking from the book to me while beginning to speak "W...want to read it with me?"

I nodded and scooted closer to him and he wrapped an arm around me, now holding the book with only one hand, I helped hold it up with my right hand since my left arm was now resting on his lap as I leaned on him. He flipped to the start of the book and read it softly to me, I read silently in my head, keeping up with the words that were flowing from his mouth. It was actually pretty relaxing composites to the intense conversations E and I held over a book. It was a pretty interesting book as well.

"I scratched the stubble on my chin with a gloved hand as I walked out into the bright sunlight, squinting it stung my eyes...." He read on. It was very detailed as my imagination instantly sparked to create the pictures in my head of the scene being described to us.

Before I knew it we had flown through six chapters and a lock came to the hidden door. It was a coded knock, so it was probably Jarvass' twin. We both had jumped nearly out of our skins at the sudden sound. Once we realized what it was we sighed in unison and Jarvass called for his brother to join us.

Marojan slid in and looked at us confused for a second. "Hey uh... Do you two know what time it is?" He said softly and we both shrugged "it's almost dinner time, and Kevin has gone mad looking for Pyper." He said softly and laughed a little "You two better have a good excuse. Pyper was supposed to be in the library." I frowned a little and rubbed the back of my neck, I had no idea how to explain this one. Thankfully, Jarvass came to the rescue by spinning a story.

"Yea I know, but I stole her away. We had a race to the surface and I remembered I had some books in here - we ended up reading for a while. It's fine. She's been with me this whole time.... Apart from the race to the surface - we took different exits." He stated with a small smile, his brain sure made that story up quick, he was one hell of a liar too. Which is probably where I picked up the lying from, from Jarvass.

Marojan nodded "I guess she wasn't in any real danger then, well, hopefully, neither of yo get in trouble." He stated then motioned us to follow him out of the little hiding hole, Jarvass marked the page we were on in the book and he carried me out before he started to walk with his brother.

"I can walk Jarvass, you don't need to carry me," I muttered softly in a pout, I didn't like people doing things for me but he continued on as if he couldn't hear me... jerk. Marojan laughed slightly at us but kept his comments to himself after Jarvass shot him a sharp, cold glare. I still didn't completely understand why Jarvass was being so protective let alone why he was now being nice. I hadn't heard once rude comment yet about how I really can't do anything for myself. Which he normally picked on me for on a daily basis.

The rest of the walk back to the tavern was rather quiet, aside from the quiet whispers of smug remarks between Marojan and Jarvass which consisted of playful 'she's taken now?' and Jarvass replying with something along the lines of 'I swear on Andraste if you don't shut your face-' and he'd usually continue with something witty that was a threat against his brother's life. Which was never as colorful as my threats but I assume he tried to compete with my creative tongue for sharp yet meaningless threats that were, normally, a random string of words. At one point I had to cut in and tell them both to, 'quit their bickering before I lock them in a closet together and throw them in the river.'

I felt strangely uncomfortable once we got back in the city, this being due to the faces of older people, most of them neighbors, soften and watch Jarvass carry me down the road and I swear I heard a few of them muffle something about us being a couple. That. Was. Gross. I rather kiss a dragon than be considered a "couple" with Jarvass! ew.

When we got into our homely tavern I heard Pa already starting a rant. "Pyper Maiva Fadaan Raesca! You better have an explanation as to why you were not at that library!" He hissed in a half cracked tone and waddled down the stairs with Ma and Kevin following closely behind. He seemed to calm a little when he noticed Jarvass was carrying me and I was safe. But it didn't seem to snuff out the flame of rage in him. Jarvass quickly fed him the same story he told Marojan and Ma and Pa both looked relieved and decided not to punish us, Kevin didn't look happy still but retreated upstairs.

"Dinner will be done in a few moments dear, and Jarvass, do be a dear and set her down. She can walk after all" Ma stated and headed to the kitchen. Jarvass took a moment to do as he was told before he actually sat me down on my feet. I decided to wobble after Ma and do what my chore would normally be which was help Ma with dinner around this time of day. Jarvass huffed and Marojan didn't hesitate to grab him by the arm and force him to help set the table like they normally did, and Dinah joined in once she got to the dining room. They also had to move some tables together. Kevin and Pa decided to help Uncle Simon with something that was to help with the upcoming festival I mentioned earlier.

Ma had made mashed potatoes and some of her infamous Takaalia, basically some black beans, peas, mashed beets, egg yolk, pickles, chunks of Frenis meat, and lots of spices. It's actually rather sweet for a meal.

Frenis is an animal indigenous to the area, and its rather easy to catch and the meat cooks easily. They're like really bigrams but have no fur, instead, they have scales, they have seven eyes, and six legs, two long dragon-like tails, and two sets of huge ram-like horns. They don't have any teeth however and normally eat herbs and plants, they have to grind it up to a pulp with their acidic saliva and their gums to help. They have three tongues as well, and the only audible noise they make is what resembles the hiss of a cat. Freaky animals. But a good eating.

She also had some warm peach cider to go with the meal. I took the cups and sat them up on a tray with the mashed potatoes and headed to the table as careful as I possibly could so I could set it on the table. Not even a second after I started out of the kitchen Jarvass rushed over and helped with the tray. He was making sure I didn't hurt myself...again. I huffed in irritation but I knew it wouldn't last long since Ma and Pa probably sent word to the surface and be back down here soon to heal my limbs fully. The reason he hadn't done it before was healers are scarce in this area of Pheivrax as you could imagine, so wasting magic and a mass amount of herbs on someone that might not wake up was a gamble.

Ma carried out the big bowl of Takaalia and sat it on the table before heading outside to tell Kevin, Pa and Uncle Simon to come inside that dinner was done. Nazaraad and Sanide had gone a few towns over to deliver a few things on short notice so they wouldn't be back for dinner until the net day. Jarvass helped me into my seat and sat next to me where Dinah normally sat and Dinah sat next to Marojan to talk about what Prank Master Doreian apparently had pulled on a noble that came through the town to shop earlier, presumably while I was either still asleep or maybe while I was with Jarvass, I hadn't exactly checked the time when I woke up and wondered off. Which wasn't something I was happy I forgot to do, but I ignored it. I relaxed in my chair and Ma came over and sat down and Kevin took his spot to my right as always, Pa next to Ma and Uncle Simon took his place. We all did a quick prayer and then Kevin and Jarvass both helped me serve myself, which wasn't so bad. It was like having two big brothers looking out for me.

Dinner was scrumptious as always. I loved Peach Cider, especially when Ma made it, and we rarely got to eat Takaalia, since Ma only made it around festival time, and it wasn't like you could just talk Ma into making something so expensive every other week. Which was totally reasonable in reality.

Pa looked at me and Jarvass and his mustache seemed to curl upwards as he grinned. "So you two are spending more time together?" He asked curiously, I couldn't understand why he seemed so happy.

Jarvass nodded "We started reading a book together, it's really good so far. So I guess we will be spending more time together... That is if Pyper wants to finish the book too." He said softly and I nearly choked on my peach cider.

"Are you kidding!? I'm as eager as you are to learn what that noise Kikumo heard was. I bet it was Mrs.Vindellia. She has to be the killer!" I said rather quickly and he laughed a little but nodded

"If you say so. I think it was Sister Haily who is the culprit, though. Either her or that shifty farmer." he smiled and I nodded in response, only gaining a confused look from everyone but Ma and Pa who looked joyful as ever and uncle Simon chuckled softly to himself.

"Either way, if you two are going to be spending time together, maybe Jarvass could help train you to protect yourself - at least a little." Uncle Simon said and smiled at us, the adults were looking at us weirdly. I couldn't really understand why.

Dinner was easily swallowed up and no leftovers were left. Ma told me that Jarvass should wash dishes with me tonight, so I accepted since I can't really tell Ma no. Jarvass helped me carry all the plates and such to the kitchen and put them in the wash bucket. I got down on the ground and sat with my broken leg out, that way I didn't bend it wrong and hurt myself more. Jarvass sat across from me and started to help with cleaning the dishes. I winced at the feeling of the hot water on my scabbed over, still healing, covered in herbs, wounds. It definitely wasn't the most pleasant. But I glanced at Jarvass who gave a concerned but comforting look which calmed me and helped me manage with the tingling needles of pain that the water gave to my sensitive wounds.

"So, want to talk about that book more, or do you want to talk about something else?" Jarvass asked while looking back to the sudsy water and scrubbing one of the plates with a rag, I had the sponge.

"The book... It's a really good one, but since we aren't far, I guess it might be best if we talk about something else." I said softly and then looked at him with a half smirk "So, you're going to be training me how to fight. What is my first lesson suppose to be? Just as a future reference, I have to be a good student to pass, right?" I asked softly and my smirk turned into a soft smile, which was returned with a smile of his own and a soft laugh.

"You bet, and I won't go easy on you with grading. Your first lesson will be on stance, you have to keep balanced in a fight or you'll lose for sure." He said softly "so, have fun practicing that. We practice first thing in the morning when the sun hits the side of the hill near Lake Zander." he smiled playfully

I huffed and glared a little "That's not even fair, so I have to be up at like five in the morning to train?" I grumbled and huffed, he nodded and started to stack clean plates in a pile after drying them with a towel. I handed him a few of the dishes I had cleaned off and allowed him to dry them as I started to talk again "So am I learning how to defend myself with my dagger. Because that's still broken, how am I going to defend myself with a broken dagger?" I pointed out with a somewhat smug look.

Jarvass' cheeks went a pinkish color and he hesitated before calming down and responding "Easy, you train with a fake dagger before you actually train with your real dagger. But I will have that fixed before the end of tomorrow...since you kinda need it in case of an emergency." He stated with a small smile "You could even come with me tomorrow to get it repaired. That way you aren't left unguarded." He said happily, who did this punk think he was?

"I don't need guarding Jarvass! I can handle myself just find you dope. I was merely.... testing your skills that day, making sure you had what it took to step in, and you passed so.... Good job" It was my turn for the embarrassment, my big mouth didn't know when to shut up when it came to my pride or ego. Which was 90% of the time.

He laughed, he knew me by now so arguing with me wasn't going to make it any better "yea. Okay. Thanks for that "test", you clearly were in complete control of that." He said softly and smiled at me before getting up and setting the plates on the counter, then helping me up off the floor - trying to avoid my broken limbs of corse. He then started to put the plates and cups away on the shelves, I helped, of course, the best I possibly could that is. Kind of hard to help with only one arm.

"Anytime." I stated with a smug look. I liked it when someone agrees with my stupid comments, especially when they purposely played along. Jarvass simply rolled his eyes and huffed.

"We might be able to get your dagger repaired tonight if your dad lets us out, we just have to go to the nearest village, and maybe we can get you healed too." He said and I nodded. "I'll go ask your parents." He said softly and once he headed out I decided to follow but instead of heading to my parents I wobbled to go find my uncle. I wanted to hear another one of his crazy stories, or at least look through his old sketch journal again. It was my favorite thing to do when bored. His sketches were magnificent. Like that of a professional painter but minus the color. He even had some of auntie Maiva before her tragic passing.

Instead of finding my uncle, however, I found Kevin. I waddled over to his curled form on the ledge of the window in Pa's work Shop. He was reading a book from his favorite series, Kiss of Misfortune, a crime series that was about trying to catch a killer who was actually really good at covering her tracks, but she left a red lipstick stain on the left cheek of whoever she killed. He was really into that sort of stuff, crime. "Hey Kevy-Bear" I teased and sat on the extra bit of ledge that wasn't covered by his curled figure. He looked up at me with a flustered face and reluctantly 'baaahed'

"Pyper!~" he whined, "I told you not to call me that. It's weirrrd!" His voice shook and his 'a's seemed longer than normal and his ears twitched, his face scrunched and red from embarrassment. I tended to call him that whenever we were alone and sometimes when a few people were around, mostly because he was my brother. It's fun to watch him turn goatly for a moment out of sheer embarrassment.

"I know." I boasted confidently, playing with fire was a daily thing for me. Not actual fire! I'm no Mage. "You should join Jarvass and I tomorrow. You should also know how to defend yourself, I have a feeling we won't be seeing the last of those goons." I said softly and Kevin sat up, uncurling his body so he could sit next to me.

"Yea, but if we get them in trouble we don't have to worry about them." He said softly and his ears pinned down to the sides of his head.

I sighed softly and wrapped my arms around him, giving him a tight hug of reinsurance "Kevin. If you run from things that scare you and try to solve the problem without facing it head on you'll never get rid of the problem. There is will always be another version of the problem waiting to pounce, so you have to get rid of the first one the correct way, or you won't be able to defeat all of the problems that are like the first one. There will always be more than one bully to face. But you can't hide from them, Kevin." I said softly with a frown, he took in what I said and looked down at me with a questionable look

"You got that life lesson from one of them books uncle Simon gave you, didn't you?" He asked softly, a bit irritated too. I nodded and he sighed heavily. He knew I was right, and boy did he hate it when I was. But, he nodded again and then shook his head, paused, then sighed and nodded a few more times. As if he was consulting either voices in his head. "Alright. I'll train with the both of you. But we don't need to train too much, hopefully." He smiled and hugged me back, burying his nose in my hair and laughing a little. I snuggled closer and we hugged each other tighter. He was my brother, and I didn't want to loose him any more than he wanted to lose me. I cherished moments like these, being able to relax and not worry about anything - not even the tavern. He was my big brother and we barely got to spend quality time together... Aside from bath days. Where we talked about everything and I mean everything. From the day to day work, to who we're crushing on, to what book we're currently reading and what we want for our birthday. It was a close knitted bond, and I was have to have such a bond with my brother.

After relaxing completely and enjoying the brother-sister bonding moment and the giggles had died down. We jumped slightly from the sound of Jarvass clearing his throat as he stood in the doorway. He then awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck "Hey, Pyper. Your parents said we could get your dagger repaired now. They don't want us getting lost and separated though so your uncle will be coming with us." He stated and I nodded in response

"Makes since..." He went to leave but I stopped him "-oh wait! Jarvass, Kevin will be training with us, I figured it was a good idea." He looked back at me, he didn't look very pleased but he nodded and headed off, he was probably going to meet me at the entrance to our lovely tavern.

I let go of my brother and had to pull away, forcefully since he didn't want to let go. I laughed softly and looked at him once he finally let go and he joined in my laughing fit. My stomach hurt and I snorted a few times by the time we finally calmed ourselves. I got up and waved at him a bit "See you in a few hours for bath time. You better not bathe without me!" I joked playfully, sometimes we had to bathe without each other, but unlike most kids, we actually loved to bathe together. Sure most people would say its wrong to do so with your sibling, especially that of opposite gender, but it's not like we were doing anything. That would be disgusting.

After parting from my brother's side I went to Jarvass who was waiting exactly where I thought he'd be, and my uncle was with him. He quickly swept me off my feet and into his arms with a playful grin. "Hey, what were you doing walking and crap? You can't walk by yourself." He teased and I rolled my eyes but allowed him to carry me. It didn't take long to get to the surface, and the village wasn't far. My uncle told us a story about the time he went to a place called Thedas, that's apparently where he met Maiva, she was a native and a member of something called the "Carta", he ended up explaining the whole Carta deal and then told us he almost got killed for talking to her. So she decided to meet up with him under an oak tree on the night of the harvest moon and they fled the scene, retreating back to Pheivrax to escape the Carta and be together. That is... until she fell ill and passed away. But unle Simon didn't seem too bothered by it, and unlike everyone else, he addressed me by MaiMai, only he did, or else I'd get riled up and he'd get very angry when someone else called me that. It was like someone walking in on sacred tradition and screwing up everything.

The village was all lit up and decorated for the upcoming festival. I pretty much forced Jarvass to let me down and I started to wobble. I've been to this village before. It's WhiskerTrail, same village Penny and Orana live. Just as the thought crossed my mind I heard a high pitched squeal from my right and Penny suddenly club to me, where she came from was beyond my knowlage and the moment but she was tightly hugging me and avoiding my broken arm the best she could.

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!!" She paused and smiled at me, her short black hair messy as always, and her eyes sparkled with joy. "We thought you wouldn't wake up! But Kevin came by with Dinah and told us you did! And then they couldn't find you so Orana and I had to go home! But now your here!!" She paused from her happy and joyful little fit of an explanation and suddenly turned serious "Why are you here?" She questioned with an eyebrow raised.

My uncle laughed while heartedly "To get MaiMai healed up and her dagger repaired. What are you doing out and about so late?" He asked with a quirky smile, that one adults have when they knew the kid was up to no good but wouldn't rat them out on it. I smiled softly and returned the hug to Penny for a split second before she separated herself from me. If it wasn't for my broken leg she'd probably be on my back by now, that was just how Penny was.

"I was in my room reading a book, but I seen you guys, so I came out." She said softly and Jarvass and I looked back at the house. Orana was sitting in the farthest corner of the room from the open window, reading as well.

I looked back at her "Did you jump out the window?" I giggled softly and she nodded triumphantly, she had so much pride for the random crazy things she did, just like Doreian did. I didn't mind that though, almost everyone in our group had an overwhelming amount of pride. "You should probably get back inside before your mum gets mad that your out of bed." She nodded and giggled before running off. Uncle Simon just laughed softly and we went over to the blacksmiths shop right next door, Penny and Orana's father worked nights and closed shop around midnight, he had help with his wife during the day. Remember, they're both blacksmiths, they may be elves, but they're the most skilled blacksmiths I've ever seen - and I live in a city of dwarves! I looked to Jarvass "You get the dagger repaired. I wanted to get healed up. Cut the time of this trip in two, hopefully." I smiled and he nodded, I then waddled off down the dirt path a little more. Uncle Simon was on my tail, he wouldn't leave me alone. I knocked on the door of the healer, only healer in the village, and the same one I visited with Kevin for yearly check ups and for whenever we got busted up from a stupid stunt we pulled. After a few moments the door opened to an old human woman, she was my healer. Judith, she had dim blue eyes and long white hair that she kept curled into a bun, a quil keeping it all in place with some flowers. She gave me a gracious smile and welcomed me in.

"Ah, so the young one lives. Good to see that spirit of yours keeps blooming and doesn't take a kick and gives in. We need more spirits like yours." She crackled a chuckle and motioned me to sit on a cot she had laid out for any patients, right now that would be me. Uncle Simon sat down in a chair and Judith grabbed a healing potion from a shelf, and walked over to me. She popped the cork and handed it to me to drink. I hated these potions. I guzzled it down as fast as I could and tried to ignore the taste. Afterwords she started to heal what the potion couldn't, her potions were weaker due to her being older and unable to gather the right materials. But no one minded that it took a little extra tender love and care for a good healing. Once I was all healed up she took the herbs off me and smiled "you'll have a few bruises but other than that, your as healthy as a cat with nine lives." She gleamed.

"Thanks, Judith!" I smiled and hopped up before giving her a warm hug. She was practically family too, she helped deliver Ma and Uncle Simon when they were born so many moons ago, and she did the same for Pa, she also did the same for Penny and Orana's parents and so many other adults. She was quite old, but we knew she wouldn't leave us anytime soon. After a quick goodbye, and a payment of five sovereigns, my uncle and I headed back to the blacksmith shop and caught up with Jarvass and Lemlassan, Penny and Orana's father. Though, I just call him Lem. Well, everyone calls him Lem. Just to shorten everything up. Jarvass was waiting patiently on the bench inside. Once I walked in Lem smiled at me for a moment then went back to work on the dagger.

"Don't worry bout' your dagger Pyper. She's almost all done, then she'll be ready to go with ya. I even added a little bit to her to make her that much more yours." He stated with a warm smile and continued his work. I loved suprised, and this was basically one since I didn't know what he added to my dagger. I smiled softly and went over and sat next to Jarvass who seemed happy I was healed up now. We didn't talk, we just watched our favorite blacksmith work his magic. My uncle sat on the other side of me and grinned softly

Before ruffling my hair happily. I let out a soft giggle. Over all the waiting time wasn't very long since he had been working while I was getting healed, so we paid the price and he handed over my dagger. It now had an obsidian blade, and the grip was much more efficient, still had the velvet on it for the grip though, it also had a emerald heart at the end of the handle, I loved it! I let out a soft squeal and hugged Lem tightly "Thank you!!!" I giggled. So many hugs today. I smiled softly and after that we left and headed home. Uncle Simon carried the cane I once used to help wobble around, and I had put my bandanna back around my neck. I loved to wear it around my neck, and sometimes around my head. It took less time to get back home than it did to get there.

Once home uncle Simon went to his own home and Jarvass had to split paths with me, I had to go to bed and so did he. Pa locked up the front door as I headed upstairs. I went into the bedroom, Kevin wasn't in there so I grabbed nightclothes and went to the bathroom and knocked.

"Come in." Kevin said happily, as if knowing it was me. I opened the door to my joyful brother who was soaking in a bubble bath, waiting for me, wth the cheesiest grin on his face. "It's about time you got here! I thought I'd be here til the water was cold!" He laughed and I put my clean clothes next to his stack of cloths and I slipped off my clothes and got in with him. The bonding of two siblings resumed and he started to ask about that book Jarvass and I talk about at dinner. Our conversation carried as our bath continued on like always, with gossip and catching up, and the scrubbing of one another....

[A/N] sorry it took so long to get this out, but I hope everyone likes it! ^^ I'll start working on the next chapter soon and hopefully get it out around the same time! :) If there are any problems with wording or you have any pointers, again feel free to tell me! [A/N]


	3. Chapter Three - A Dodging Dance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From here on out the chapters will be shorter, around 5,000 words. This was asked of me by stylobebe99 Thank you for the suggestion! I have decided to follow through with making the chapters shorter. I won't be changing the first two by splitting them up, however, but the future chapters will be shorter. :) Including this one!

Panting heavily I dug my nails into the soil, skidding across it as I lowered my body, trying to stop myself from sliding any further. It has been a few weeks since my incident with the bullies, I gave their names to the templars the morning after getting healed and my dagger fixed, The kids were arrested for attempting murder and would have to serve community service with templars for half a year. I have done nothing but training with Jarvass and Kevin. Though today it was just Kevin and me, we couldn't find Jarvass today, so we decided to train alone. We both trained with anything we could get our hands on, right now, that was some wooden daggers. I had just gotten the wind knocked out of me by Kevin and thrown a good five feet, though thanks to training with Jarvass I caught myself and was currently regaining my balance.

I slowly stood up and adjusted my grip on my wooden training weapons and looked up to my brother. Both of us were out of breath, I had landed some heavy blows on his sides and a few on his face, leaving small cuts and bruises. He had attacked my bad arm and leg and tried to weaken me, we had our own strategies so to say. Thanks to uncle Simon we knew how to "fight dirty" if it was needed. Which we also practiced on each other. I ended up with a broken nose again a few times.

Orana and Penny joined us in training every now and then, though it was only for self-defense if needed, Kevin decided he really liked it and has been talking with Jarvass about something. I wasn't really sure. Boy stuff I guess.

I continued to watch him. I could easily be defeated if he made the right moves, but neither of us moved an inch. We both had our guards up so we knew attacking one another would drag this out longer or end in a draw.

"Hey Pyper, Kevin!!" A familiar voice rang out, it was E. And E had perfect timing too, Kevin paused and turned his head, he was always on the edge of panic so the unexpected voice made him break concentration. The moment he wasn't focused on me anymore and his guard dropped I lunged forward and jumped to the right and decided to flank him. Once he noticed I had moved he tried to dodge but due to my sudden change in direction I was able to jab him in his side, just above his hip, and use my left arm to swing at him and hit him square in the face, sending my dearest brother to the dirt.

Kevin hit the ground with an oof and then made a groan as he brought a hand up to his jaw to try and pinpoint where the sudden pain had come from, he looked up at me shocked and somewhat ashamed. Though, any guy would be if they just got their tail end handed to them by a girl.

I looked at him and giggled before holding my hand out to help my brother up, he accepted and got up with ease before giving me a look

"That wasn't fair, I was distracted!" He hissed and his ears flicked in irritation. I poked his nose gently.

"Well, then I guess you won't get distracted anymore while we train" I let out a laugh and looked to E who walked up and smiled "Thanks for that fabulous timing E, gave me the perfect opening."

"Yea, I didn't really mean to do that, but your welcome" He laughed and smiled before holding up some sticks, they were really long ones, and at one end of each one were what looked like sword grips. "Check out what the templars let us have, they use them to train all the time! It's for sword training. I figured we'd be able to train with these too, instead of just daggers and Penny's mom's bow." He said with a rather wide smile. He had an elder brother who was in the templar camp near us, so for them to give us some training equipment was pretty cool. "And I think I got down how to make a makeshift training dummy. So gather sticks, and we will need a few blankets or sheets, and rope." He stated and Kevin and I exchanged glances but nodded and agreed to it.

E sat the sword training sticks aside and Kevin and I sat our daggers in the same area before Kevin headed off to go get some sheets from Ma and E and I gathered big sticks and some rope from Jarvass's hideout, he had rope in there from cutting it off the dock when people left with their boats and never came back for the rope. So He had an abundance of it.

"So how are we going to make a training dummy?" I asked softly and looked over at E who smiled at his own brilliance.

"You'll see. But after we get the sheets and rope and sticks, now what we need to do is gather all of the dead leafs, underbrush, and soft things you can find, then we use that as stuffing." He smiled and we crawled out of the little room before he showed me what it was we were doing, he laid the long sticks down, we had five of them, and he piled the rope up. Then he helped me start to find the "stuffing" Which we ended up splitting up for to find some. I even gathered old birds nests and anything I could find that classified as stuffing like material.

Eventually, and by that I mean two or three hours later, we met back up in the clearing with loads of stuffing, we had piled it all together, and at some point Kevin had started helping after he had gotten the sheets, and he even got Penny, Orana, Dinah, and Marojan to join in, and Jarvass just kind of appeared out of nowhere. So we had plenty of material for these training dummies. E showed us to put the sheets on the sticks like wrap it around, so the sheet would make it look like a really bad ghost decoration if you stood it up straight.

We then started to fill each with the "stuffing" and E used the rope to tie off a neck area and make what looked like a head, and then tied off the bottoms to keep the "stuffing" in. The taller boys, being Marojan, Jarvass, and Kevin, all pulled the training dummies up and planted their sticks in the ground, but not too much. They didn't look exactly like what the templars used in training, but it had a head and was about the same thing.... kinda.

I smiled and wrapped an arm around E's shoulders "nice thought. Now we can train on our own if we don't have anyone else to train with." I stated with a small smile and he gave me a nod, then used his fingers to fix his short cut blood red hair.

"Hey, Ma and Pa said we could all camp out here tonight. As long as all of us stay together and in this clearing" Kevin said and everyone nodded. Looks like it was a camping night. Penny unrolled a tent that would need to be put up, and Kevin brought both him and me one, and Jarvass had carried his own and his sibling's tents, Orana was probably going to sleep with Penny, and E had the flashiest tent ever. Jarvass helped me in setting my tent up and while doing so I discussed what I needed help with.

"-And when I need to move to the left I feel like my timing is delayed, Kevin is able to hit me on my right leg, and sometimes grab me too..." I explained most of my situation to him since Pa I trusted him in training me he was my teacher so of course, I'd ask him for help, it was only sensible.

Jarvass nodded "We will spar before bed. I'll help you after I've evaluated the issues you're having and see them for myself. Then I can help." He stated and smiled at me with a cool look. The tent was easy to set up, and everyone had their tents up easily as well. Our tents were in a ring around the campfire Marojan had sat up, and of course, the tents were a safe distance from the fire. Everyone else seemed to be occupying each other, so Jarvass dragged me off with my training daggers and took me to the other side of the clearing so I could spar with him.

It had been awhile since I sparred one on one with Jarvass, I was used to Kevin's techniques so it was good to train with someone who had a different strategy and I wasn't used to sparring with. I quickly took stance and Jarvass did the same. He darted to my left, and I moved to the right instinctively and jumped up just as he tried to swipe a foot under me.

Keeping my eyes on him the moment my feet hit the ground I put my forearms in front of my face to block a kick, it moved me back a few inches and I rolled to my left to dodge a right swing. Jumping up I jabbed at his back with both daggers, striking down and ripping thin lines into his shirt and skin. He quickly recoiled and moved, his body twisting and this time he managed to swipe my legs out from under me, landing my face into the dirt below. He pointed a dagger at the sensitive spot on my neck, just above the ending of the spine, the soft tissue that when punctured it could kill someone with ease, damaging the brain.

"Dead." He stated and pulled his dagger away before helping me up after I turned over on my back. "You were right, your timing is off. This is because your balance is off, and you need to work on your speed and technique. Other than that you would do good against someone who doesn't know what they're doing." He smiled and looked at me. He then looked back to the camp and smirked a bit. He put his training daggers up and grabbed my hand "hey, real quick, training aside. I want to show you something." He grinned mischievously.

"But we'll get in trouble if we leave the clearing." I frowned and he chuckled

"If they find out. It's not like we'll be gone for long. Come on Pyper. It will be quick I promise!" He said and flashed agape tooth grin, he still had pretty straight teeth for someone who took a few punches to the face to save my life. Reluctantly, I agreed to this mischief. He led me out the side of the clearing I wasn't familiar with, so I had no memory to go off of, only the fact that Jarvass was with me and the hopes that he knew where he was going.

A good ten minutes passed before he pushed passed some bushes and held them aside for me. I stepped into the clearing and looked at what he had brought me to. A waterfall. A waterfall with a lot of Mist around it, luscious plants, and a big pond with many little pools of water around it.

"The waters hot, like a sauna, it's nature's hot springs." He smiled and looked at me before suddenly blurting out "I was wondering if you'd go to the festival with me..." He said and seemed to hold his breath. I gave him a confused look and tilted my head as an unfamiliar heat ran to my cheeks.

"What do you mean? We always hang out at the festival together." I looked at him and he looked at me, his face had turned a shade of pink

"I mean like... Like a date Pyper, and we can dance together, a-and it will be just you and me this time, we won't hang out with our friends. It will just be us." He stuttered a little over his own words but he just looked at me with a worried expression, he looked more sheepish than Kevin, and that said something!

I didn't know what to say. So I didn't say anything. I just intertwined out fingers and looked at him. After a long moment of staring at each other, I finally spoke "Okay.... But. I've never danced before." I frowned and looked at him, my pointy ears drooped but before my sad expression could sink in Jarvass grinned again.

"I'll teach you!" He exclaimed and gave me a tight hug, which I gladly returned. I wasn't quite sure why I agreed, then again no one explained to me what a date was. So I suppose Jarvass would be teaching me that as well, that or I'd have to ask Pa... I mentally decided on asking Pa later. After concluding our hug he led me back to our clearing where our friends were still occupied with their own conversations. He let go of my hand and we went back to the tents before settling in and joining in the stories.

"And all I could hear was "Palanna Shaenyla Valytriel, what in Andraste's knickers is a petting zoo doing in the house?!" And I died laughing. We still can't get the smell of horse out of the house!" Penny laughed loudly, her laugh was very loud, so loud I'm sure you could hear her joyful howls miles away. Everyone had started laughing with her. Except for Orana, she never laughed. She barely ever smiled.

I reached over and grabbed a sandwich Kevin had on a plate, there were more of them, and my guess was Kevin had made them out of what Ma had sent in our little supply bag that she packed us when we asked to camp outside. Kevin finally noticed Jarvass and I were back and he handed over my prized toy, and I hugged it happily in one arm while eating my sandwich happily, I also passed a sandwich to Jarvass.

I looked over to E who was tampering with something in a box. I got up and moved to the other side of Jarvass so I was between him and E. "Whats in there?" I asked curiously, E was only one year older than I, and a year younger than Kevin. He looked at me and frowned before closing the box.

"It's nothing special, I just like to play around with it..." he said softly and looked at our friends, Marojan had already started a new story and everyone was pre-occupied with listening and eating. He leaned closer and whispered to me, a secret he obviously wasn't ready to share with everyone...without some convincing that is. "It's my mum's makeup box. She doesn't normally use it, so I swipe it from her every now and then.... But I don't have the guts to put any on." He said softly and I smiled softly.

"How about Penny, Orana and I give you a makeover? And no one outside our group of friends will know, that way it's like a secret." I whispered back and E thought it over, he looked nervous, he clenched his hands tighter around the wooden box and his nails threatened to dig into the tender wood. "We're your friend's E, we won't judge you. You can trust us." I said softly and he looked back at me with his ice blue eyes before nodding with a smile of his own tugging at the corner of his mouth. I looked at everyone and once Marojan's story, about what I'm unsure, was over I butted in while everyone was laughing. "Hey, guys?" I smiled softly and glanced at the still nervous E and then back to our friends who I now had the complete attention of "E wants to do something different, but guys don't normally do it. He wants our support." I stated and everyone smiled and nodded.

Orana wrapped her arms around E's shoulders and hugged him then stated in a calm voice with the slightest curve in her lips "You should know by now we support everyone, no one will judge you E" She said calmly and everyone nodded in agreement. I then whispered a soft 'I told ya so' and giggled.

"Penny, Orana, I'm going to need your help with this, but we're going to give E a makeover, and the other boys will be the judge of our work, along with E." I stated and the two exchanged glances but nodded, I then got up and helped E up and Penny and Orana followed me inside my tent, it was big enough for maybe three or four full-grown people, so we all fit comfortably in it.

E sat the box down and opened it up revealing all of what was in there. Penny pulled a comb out from my bag and started to style E's hair while Orana and I started to put some makeup on him. Orana did her own makeup on a daily basis and I helped Penny every now and then. So this wasn't very hard for us. It took maybe four minutes or less, but we didn't do much, we gave him eyeliner, some dark purple, and black eyeshadow, and we let him put lipgloss on, we just didn't think lipstick looked good on him. I smiled softly and looked at his hair, Penny had simply combed most of it to one side, it looked pretty good really, there was only a little left on the other side of his head and she had tucked that behind his ear. We then got up and left the tent before letting E leave shortly after us. He smiled softly and our fellow friends complimented him. Doreian however just made stupid puns to do with how he looked. Though Doreian did that to everyone, so it didn't put a dent on E's confidence.

After a few more stories and goofing around a little, we all crawled into our own tents. Kevin hadn't even set his up, and I knew why. We never slept in separate tents, because we had never slept in separate rooms. It was too weird to do so since we were used to one another's soft noises as the other slept. Kevin crawled into the tent after me and rolled his sleeping bag out a few feet from mine, then curled up in it after saying good night. Jarvass and Marojan put out the fire and then went into their own tents, soon everyone was quickly getting to sleep. We all went to bed around the same time so it was easy for us to stay on our time schedule of when to sleep and when to wake up since it was roughly the same times for both. While listening to my brother sleep I started to relax, holding my nug toy closely and letting the carbon built in the tent to keep the heat in and since the tent was closed it sealed off the carbon from getting out and the cold air of the night and the bugs from getting in. After relaxing and hearing the noises of the outside fully engulf the night and any noises that were around, I started to drift off into my own thoughts. Jarvass wanted to teach me how to dance. I had always wanted to learn but after the attack, I had become rather self-conscious about myself and everything to do with me. It became the norm, my norm. 

 

I let all that go for a while and thought of what Jarvass was going to teach me and that field he had shown me. Was that where he went when no one could find him? It was so pretty. Soon enough my thoughts had drifted to pure darkness and I was woken up by, well, by Jarvass. Who was shaking me awake I was confused at first, but before I could ask he told me why he woke me.

"It's morning. And everyone's heading back. We can pack up our stuff and maybe I can start with your new lessons?" he asked curiously while looking at me, I was snuggled deep in my sleeping back, curled up like a cat with the covers over my head. I enjoyed it that way. But I gave him a nod and stretched out before crawling out of the sleeping bag that way I could get changed after Jarvass left the tent, Kevin brought new clothes in the bag yesterday to I changed into those, and then started packing everything up. "I told everyone we'd return later than them since we will be training. I didn't tell them for what, though." he smiled and helped carry my bag.

"Thanks for waking me up. I hope our friends and siblings don't decide to get nosy." I stated softly with a frown if I knew my friends... and I did, they would come snooping around eventually. I didn't want them to, though, strangely some part of me had a small flame in it now, the tempted rage of how I would react if they tried to take away this privet time I had with Jarvass. Though I just suspected it was because he was practically a brother now, we spent so much time together since the attack. Since he saved me. We never talked about it, though, after that day it wasn't ever brought up again.

Jarvass smiled and nodded in response as he led me back to the not-so-secret open field he was going to teach me how to dance in. Suddenly a question sprang to my mind, one I had wanted to ask since bedtime.

"What kind of dances are you going to teach me?" I asked curiously as if I wasn't aware that could kill me, even though I'm an elf, not a cat.

"I can teach you the ones I know, but anything else I don't think I could be very good at teaching you something I myself don't know." He said softly and looked at me before looking ahead of us and moving some brush so I could walk  into the clearing before him. It was really pretty in the morning, the mist of the waterfall made the area foggy and the tall grass wavered in the wind against each other like the motion of the ocean, leaping waves of thin grass pinned to their spot as they tried to chase the current of the air.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked back to Jarvass, I was almost surprised as I had felt completely alone for a moment in the serene clearing. But a part of me was glad I wasn't alone. I smiled softly and grabbed his hand before pulling him farther into the field and over to the side of the pond, but not into the lush plants, yet close enough where the heat of the water radiated into the air. He had sat down our stuff a few feet away.

"Take off your shoes, it will be easier to get used to dancing that way." He said softly and I nodded before slipping them off and setting them near our stuff, at the same time he did the same, taking his shoes off and setting it by out stuff before he abruptly grabbed me by the hand and pulled me away from the pile of belongings and closer to him, much closer. Feeling the strange heat rush to my cheeks once more I giggled a little. The heat of my face and the humid moist fog, that admitted from the hot waterfall and pool of water, made it a little difficult to focus.

"Alright. Put your other hand around my neck, or on my shoulder, if you can't reach that far, and I'll hold this hand like this..." He said softly while loosening his grip and adjusting our hands were gently holding one another but our fingers weren't folded together. His fingers folded from between my index and thumb over the back of my hand. My thumb rested on top of his index and my fingers curled around his pinkie to the back of his hand. While doing so I also did as he told me to with my other hand and places it on his shoulder, but as far up as I could reach around his neck, the height difference didn't help. Then I felt his left hand, the only empty hand left, lay gently on my waist. I stated up at him, I was just being taught how to dance. I had a rather faint memory of my birth parents doing this at Royal gatherings. It wasn't hard for what I remember watching.

"N-now what?" I asked quietly and as steady as possible but my voice cracked and I wasn't sure why but it made me feel stupid that it did like it was my fault it cracked... Was it?

Jarvass smiled softly "Look at our feet. Watch our movement, I'm going to lead you through this, it's really simple." He stated and slowly he moved back and told me where exactly to step while telling me verbally the steps "one, two, three, turn." He smiled "you shift right and I left that way we move together and it turns just right for us to continue in harmony." He said gently and I nodded, I was trying so hard to do it correctly, that it took me a while to realize the look Jarvass had. He was smiling, but there was some glint in his eyes I wasn't sure about. I was confused but didn't ask, Pa would have the answer, right? Then for a moment I completely forgot what we were doing, I was completely entranced by Jarvass and our eyes were locked together. When we went to turn I stumbled, tripped him and we fell to the ground, he fell next to me and on his stomach, I was on my back.

After a brief moment of silence, we both started laughing. I made a snort and quickly clamped my hand over my mouth and Jarvass sat up, sitting on his knees before he reached over and tickled me "I told you to pay attention, Pyper!" He laughed and being so sensitive I began to squirm beneath him and snort while I laughed loudly without a care, my heart pounded from the adrenaline and suddenly he stopped. Opening my once closed eyes slowly and starting to calm myself he grinned at me in a mischievous manner.

"J-Jarvass? What are yo-" before I could ask I was picked up off the ground and I let out an involuntary squeak as he then threw me into the water. Quickly being surrounded by the hot liquid I panicked, I couldn't swim! As soon as I felt the bottom I sprang up out of the water. I was maybe chest high in the water. I was panting and very glad it wasn't deeper than that. I looked at him in disbelief and anger before cracking a smirk and cupping my hands before swiftly pushing them together, sending a concentrated stream of the water into the air and straight at Jarvass who was still at the waters edge. "Payback!"

Jarvass laughed "Hey! Unfair!" He teased

"Wasn't fair for you to throw me in the water either! I can't swim you butt!" I laughed but grinned and I continued to squirt the water at him and soon enough he decides to wade in after me and I giggle and squeak as I started to try and run away, but to no avail, he was taller and had a longer reach than I. "Ah no!" He laughed as he grabbed me

We both laughed as he pulled me out of the water and into a hug from behind "I got you!" He said happily and I squirmed for a little, both of us playing around of course. Shortly after we had calmed ourselves and our laughter died down he carried me out of the water and sat be down, I rung my hair out before he grabbed our stuff and we both walked bare footed. It was barely midday now.

"That was really fun," I said softly and pulled my hair back before covering my hair with my handkerchief. "Thanks for teaching me how to dance... I like dancing with you." I smiled gently while gazing at him then to the ground. He smiled back and patted my head with a free hand as we eventually made it to the familiar path that led home.

"I enjoyed it too," he said softly and the rest of the walk was silent. We got back home and split paths after separating our stuff, I started to put away my things in mine and Kevin's room, and then changed clothes before heading back to the tavern downstairs to help mom with it. Eventually, Pa and uncle Simon came in for a break from the mines and were sitting at the bar. Ma didn't notice so I went to serve them, using the same pull out ledge to walk on that Ma used. I got them glasses of water and made them sandwiches.

I looked at pa for a long while and when he and uncle Simon finally stopped their conversation uncle Simon sighed heavily "Oh boy... That look right there... Little MaiMai has a question for you Enron." He stated and both of the older men's bushes on their face lowered and they looked rather serious. Pa then started after a moment.

"Pyper... What's wrong?" He asked quietly and I huffed quietly before puffing my cheeks and leaning over the counter a little

"Pa... Can I ask you something?" I sheepishly asked in a near whisper.

"Of course" he responded like any parent would.

"What.... What's a date?" I asked curiously and looked at him worried as I crossed my arms. Pa looked shocked, so shocked his eyebrows rose and showed his eyes, uncle Simon looked a little angry

He suddenly blurted out "Who in Andraste's name asked you on a date?! Your too young MaiMai! Enron tell her!" He nearly shouted and Pa calmed him before looking at me

"A date is when two people spend time together, both normally have a romantic interest in one another and spend a lot of time together. Normally happens when in love." He stated and huffed as he focused on me "who asked you to go on a date? It wasn't one of those bratty school kids, was it? I won't have them tainting you Pyper." He said and both men stated at me with cold eyes, like they were statues.

I gulped a little and shook my head and the heat rushed to my face again, I was so confused and the answer only gave me more questions including the ones Pa was asking. "N-no... Jarvass wanted me to be his date to the festival this year..." I said softly and both Pa and uncle Simon seemed to relax and smiled softly with soft chuckles

"Ah, that I'm okay with. But if this is true. I'm going to need to have a talk with Nazaarad and Jarvass." Pa stated before getting up and heading off to have said talk. I didn't know if that was good or bad. Then uncle Simon got up and leaned over ruffling my hair before he headed over to Ma

"Your mother should know as well" he stated before going to tell her. Oh boy... Was it a good idea to tell? I asked myself and then soon decided no as Ma suddenly fainted after hearing Jarvass asked me to be his date at the festival. I still had little understanding of what this meant, and I was sure to find out since the adults seemed shocked. I gave a huff and started to help another customer as they sat down at the bar, I wasn't allowed to mix drinks but I could handle anything non-alcoholic. I just continued my work for the day and hoped nothing bad would come from telling Pa and uncle Simon.


	4. Chapter Four - Bugs and Promises

"Pyper, table four needs another ale!" Kevin shouted at me while he dispersed food to another table, I started to fill mugs with foaming ale that rose up to spill over the lip of the mug. They were glass, and very heavy, each one held a little over a pint of ale, and it was currently eight at night, the time when all the miners came back up from their tunnels and hung out at the taverns until twelve in the morning or later before going home. When I asked uncle Simon why this was a reoccurring thing, he explained it with saying that the alcohol numbed their brain to the point it made them forget about their aching muscles. I suppose it made sense.

I quickly gathered the mugs onto a serving tray and headed to the table "Full mugs coming through!" I yelled loud enough that anyone standing in the way would move aside long enough for me to squeeze past and get to the table. Table four was our Wicked Grace table, the men that sat there were regulars and we kept the ale coming since 20% of the money went to us for all the ale, usually the 20% was more than what the amount of ale costed. Nazaarad promised that when I was older he would teach me how to play, Pa and uncle Simon agreed to this as well, and Kevin, Marojan, and Jarvass were already being taught. I assumed they meant that they'd have to convince Ma first. The men at the table turned to me as I passed out their ale.

"It's fresh and cold, hows the game going?" I asked curiously while glancing at their faces, they looked gruff on the surface but they were all really sweet.

One of them cracked a grin "Ah, going as good as ever Pyper! I'm about to win me third round!" the man exclaimed with pride and a laugh. Then another piped up.

"Over my dead body old man, I be the one takin' home the money tonight!" he chuckled and ruffled my hair, these men were friends with Pa, so they were also like family. Then again everyone in the city was basically family if they knew Pa or Ma.

"Hey, girly. How's the dancin' lessons goin' with Jarvass? Heard from yer pop that ya'll ganna be a pair tomorruh at the festival?" The first man beamed with curiosity and the rest stopped talking and looked at me, causing my face to heat with embarrassment. I tucked away some stray locks of hair behind one of my ears before responding.

"They're goin alright I suppose. I just need to learn how to trust that Jarvass won't drop me and that I won't trip... That seems to be my only problems." I said in an almost whisper and the one that ruffled my hair patted my back

"Jus' remember to tell him to keep his hands, above yer hips, and at your waist. Don't let em' drop. If he hurts ya at all, he best head for the hills cus' there's a whole lotta family that will be on him faster than a demon on a Mage." He told me with a chuckle and then I heard someone call me over to their table "ah, best get goin', wouldn't want yer Ma or Pa gettin' all fussy that we stole some of your time from workin'" he grinned like a crazy man and I nodded and left without hesitation to continue my work.

The next table wanted more ale and some food, so I carried two trays this time and gave them what they asked for, and collected their money for the food and ale. After that, I put it in my Ma's money jar behind the counter. Kevin soon joined me and grinned like a goof.

"What?" I blinked in confusion and he grabbed my hand before pulling me off.

"Ma said its the end of our shift for a little. She and Mrs. Golac have arranged dresses for you, Ma and Pa want you to try them on and everyone in the tavern will vote on what you're going to wear.

Because I know you won't be able to choose!" He laughed softly and headed to the smaller "household" that could be accessed from the side of the tavern. I then knew that I would be changing into these dressed with the help of Ma, Sanide, and Mrs. Golac. Which meant I'd be changing in Sanide and Nazaraad's room and Kevin and E would be waiting to see my dress, Dinah would also probably be there, and knowing my luck Penny and Orana would also be there to judge my dresses. I had started regretting this "date" thing ever since Ma had started doing my hair all fancy like and putting subtle makeup on me. I was being painfully reminded of the life I don't like - the life of that lost princess. What was her name? I had already forgotten my birth name.

Kevin pulled me into the first room, the living room, and sure enough, E was there, and Penny, Orana, and Dinah. As I was pushed into the room to I could hear our guests of the tavern, our customers, starting to move things around. I was confused on why that might be happening but ignored it for now.

Mrs. Golac walked up to me, her blood red hair up in a tight bun with random hairs flying here and there. It had been three days of practicing with Jarvass and not even an hour after I told Pa and uncle Simon about the date thing the whole family and half the city knew about it. Such a tightly knit community knew everything of their neighbor four blocks away. Kevin and some of my family and Jarvass's family decided to follow us to our field one day and watch us practice dancing. Let's just say I was fine until I noticed them all peeking out from behind a bush, and then I messed up and we both ended up in the pool of water again.

"Alright child, I have made a few gowns for you. Follow me and we will put you in one of them to see how you like it." She said softly with a smile, she was slightly shorter than Ma but very kind with her heart. Mrs. Golac is E's mother. I nodded in response and Kevin took his place next to E and Dinah while I was led off to Nazaarad and Sanide's bedroom. Ma and Sanide had already prepared a dress for me to put on.

I looked at it a long moment before taking it behind the changing blinds to take my clothes off. I pulled off my clothes and stepped into the dress before pulling it on. There was a mirror behind the changing blinds as well. I stared at myself for a long time. The girl I envied had returned from the mist of the unknown. I don't like her. None the less I sighed softly and left my hiding place to show it off to Ma, Sanide, and Mrs. Golac, I heard them make the "aw" noise. The dress was pretty, but I didn't feel like it was anything like me.

The dress was tight at the top and filled with glitter, the skirt of it fanned out and also was filled with glitter, the pattern was a gradient of dark blue fading to a sea foam green at the bottom, the edges of the skirt had little dangly thingies that for the most part weren't my favorite, it made a lot of noise but was pretty, the underskirt was a silk like material with blue for the color. Not anything I wanted to wear. But without asking my approval they pushed me out in front of everyone else and my friends and brother seemed to like it. But Penny cocked her head and made a face, soon they all, besides the adults, realized I didn't like the dress.

"Next one. This one is weird." Orana stated plain as day, she wasn't trying to be rude, but she cracked a knowing smile. My friends didn't want me to be uncomfortable, the parents, however, were blind still. So I went back into the room and put a new dress on behind the changing blind again.

This time, I put on a longer dress that was purple and pink, but sadly I still didn't like it. It had sleeves that didn't cover the shoulder but only the arms from biceps to wrists. It was pretty. But again, not anything I would wear. And my friends agreed. The third dress was no different, I wouldn't even put it on! It was a princessy dress, the skirt was very puffed out and looked more like a ball gown than something for a fun festival. I sighed in defeat.

"I'm sorry. I just, don't like any of them. They're really pretty and I bet other people would like them, but I don't think I could wear them to the festival." I tried to explain as if they'd hate me for not liking the dresses. Mrs. Golac understood, though. I smiled and hugged them all before running off, fully dressed in my own clothes. Since my shift was over and I didn't have anything else to do I was supposed to go meet Jarvass. I hit the breaks, however, skidding to a halt and stareing Jarvass in the face, confused. "Why are you here?" I blinked and my friends looked really anxious for Jarvass to hand over whatever was in the bag in his right hand. He looked nervous, no doubt the work of Kevin

"Well, this morning Mrs.Golac showed me the dresses she made for you... So I... I decided to get you one, that E made. I had him make it... while you were working... I-I knew you wouldn't like those gowns... So I decided to try my hand at appealing you." His face turned as red as a tomato. I couldn't help but giggle at his stuttering but he held the bag out to me in one swift stuff movement.

I glanced at him before taking the bag, then glancing at the adults and our friends, and my brother. After an awkward moment, I opened the bag and pulled out a different gown. The material was soft but not silk, I'm allergic to wool so it defiantly wasn't that, was it? I loved it already. It had thick straps that crossed in the back that were open but not past mid back, and the front had ruffles along the neckline, there was a slight dusting of glitter along the top and some gems sewn into the lining right under the ruffles. The skirt was very long and flowy but didn't touch the ground, it was a few inches above my feet, there were ruffles at the end as well and the area between the skirt and the top had a ribbon-like belt, there was a little ruby gemstone dragon in the center of a flower like bow. The dress was white and had dusty green and pink markings that were faded and subtle but also very simple yet pretty, the ribbon was a crimson like color but more faded than the ruby color.

I couldn't help but start to cry when I looked at it. I really liked it. Without thinking I hugged Jarvass, I couldn't even respond, I tried to hide my burning face in his chest from everyone else. It made me feel weird but in a good way. He worked with E to make this, I didn't know why but it made something tangle inside me, closed off for a moment. Jarvass hugged me back and laughed a little.

"And here I was nervous over thinking you might not like it..." He chuckled softly and petted my hair a little, his fingers got tangled a few times in my hair but I didn't want to move, I was slowly calming myself while taking in his scent. It was... Different. I was used to Kevin's but his was more musky, less animalistic, and kind of like dust and dirt. He smelled like the mines but not the way uncle Simon did. He also smelt like his hideout. It was nice.

I pulled my head away a little and looked at everyone in the room who looked like they were staring at adorable kittens. I felt even more embarrassed now. But I looked up to Jarvass slowly, my bangs falling into my face.

"Should I try it on?" I asked in a sheepish whisper, I felt kind of scared for some reason, I didn't want to disappoint him but I didn't think I could wear the dress, it was everything I wanted but, I wasn't sure.

He nodded a little. "If you want." He grinned awkwardly and I then pulled away from him and skittered away, nervous for some reason and feeling a bit awkward. I slipped past the adults and started to change in the corner of the room with the changing blinds. Once I had the dress on I looked at myself in the mirror and couldn't help but collapse and start crying. I loved it. It was beautiful. But it didn't look like something I was worthy to wear. I didn't realize how long I had stayed in the room alone until I heard the door open slowly.

"having trouble?" I heard Jarvass's voice. He couldn't see me, I was still behind the changing blind. I pulled my hands from my face and wiped my eyes before clearing my throat a little "y-yea. I'm alright, though. D-don't worry." I cringed at my own words.

The door closed and Jarvass sat on the bed "you okay?" He asked quietly "your crying." I froze. I wouldn't answer this time because he was right and knew me too well for me to lie to him. While staring at the floor and trying to get the tears to stop he walked up behind me and sat down while hugging me "It's okay. Whatever it is, just tell me. I'll always fix what hurts you, promise." He said quietly and held me closer, I couldn't help but hug back but I didn't look at him.

"Jarvass?" I asked quietly and he responded with a 'hm'. "Am... Am I pretty?" I whispered and gripped his shirt in my first, squeezing tightly until I could feel my nails push into the fabric and into my hand, but not enough to cut it or draw blood, but enough to make my knuckles white, I was already shaking a little and trying not to cry.

Jarvass pulled my face by my cheeks gently, guiding me to look him in the face. His brows furrowed and he looked questionable "Do you doubt that you are?" He frowned "What makes you feel like you aren't pretty?"

"Makeup, I feel weird with it on. My mother wore it and it makes me feel like I have to be someone I don't want to be to wear it... I don't want to be a princess, I just want to be... Me. Pyper, not Xeal. Jarvass I don't want to wear makeup or be pretty - I just want to be me." I whined and my vision was nearly cut off altogether from the sudden flow of tears that began falling more rapidly.

"Pyper, your not a princess but you are pretty. Your pretty in your own way but you don't need to wear makeup to be pretty or wear fancy gowns or jewelry." He stated and looked slightly angry "your pretty to me, just the way you are. You don't have to worry. And I'll hurt anyone who says you need makeup and jewelry or a fancy gown to be pretty. I like my tavern girl - not a missing princess." He hissed out in a low tone, he then pulled me up to my feet and grabbed a cloth before using a mix of his spit and my tears to clean the makeup off. My face grew red when he tried to wipe the lipgloss off, I wasn't sure about his saliva on my lips. So I just used my handkerchief to wipe it off myself. While I did that he took a comb nearby and took all the bobby pins out and combed through my hair before taking the handkerchief from me and wrapping it around my neck the way I normally wear it, he tied it so carefully behind my neck and under my hair, trying not to tie my hair in too.

While he did that I stopped him and took one of his hands in mine before lifting my other to his shoulder and I let out a giggle. "Thanks, Jarvass... This makes me feel more comfortable than the makeup and all those pins." I grinned and his face softened as he grinned back and laughed a little

"You're an odd one." He stated and a rolled my eyes before letting out a groan of playful aggravation

"Why'd ya save me then - weirdo!" I laughed softly and we twirled a little before I pulled him out of the room and  everyone seemed pretty happy at both of us. They're weird. Weird for staring at us, we weren't doing anything wrong but they acted like something was so cute about it. I don't understand. After letting go of Jarvass's hand I twirled around a few times to let the skirt of the dress flutter out and twirl around me, I loved dresses like this. It wasn't completely like a tavern dress but it wasn't a super fancy gown either. It was me. Scrappy and pretty but not sugar coated with a painted on face and a super proper manner set or hair style. It fits my personality and I loved it.

The rest of the day was pretty standard, I stayed in my dress even after showing it off to the whole tavern and standing on the tables a little. Some of the older men said something about being a heartbreaker when I was older, wasn't sure what that meant. But I took mental note of this, probably going to ask Ma later or uncle Simon, or maybe Kevin.

Ma had a few of the guys start to play some instruments and the bard joined too some festival music, they wanted to see Jarvass and I dance. I giggled and grabbed his hand as he tried to run off, but I pulled him over and made him start dancing. We started with what seemed like a normal waltz but quickly it turned into half tap dance with many twirls and half ballet. It was a festival so it was mostly to just have fun. I loved to dance with him, it made me feel like we were alone - even if I messed up. Eventually, I pulled everyone into dancing even those playing the music, and we finally calmed down two hours after the dancing started.

I went upstairs to get clothes for Kevin and me for our bath and ended up screaming at the top of my lungs and locking the bedroom door. I stood in the hall listening to sharp scrawny legs claw at the door and a soft hiss comes from the shadow behind the door. Spider. Due to living underground, we had random giant spiders, deep stalkers, and darkspawn that wandered in from time to time and crept their way into houses. I just happen to have been lucky enough to be the one to walk in on one this time.

Jarvass was at my side in an instant, he was wielding a knife from the kitchen and pushed himself between me and the door, holding an arm out. "Stay behind me. I don't want you hurt." He demanded I stayed put. I didn't want him rescuing me again, but I wasn't as good at fighting as Jarvass yet. I suppose it was better to stay behind him, I didn't even have my dagger on my it was in the room. Jarvass looked over his shoulder at me. "Go get your uncle and Pa, and my dad." He said sternly and I nodded before running off, I hugged Kevin immediately and with the adults giving me a weird look I told them.

"Jarvass needs help with a spider in my room. He wants Naz, uncle Simon, and Pa to help" the three nodded. I had started calling Nazaarad Naz when I was six. I just like it because it's shorter and easier to say. After Pa grabbed a longsword and uncle Simon a bow, Naz had some stick thing. I wasn't sure what it was. But the three went upstairs and quickly Jarvass came downstairs as the adults went to work. I went from clinging to Kevin to clinging to Jarvass. I hate spiders... At least the big ones anyway. Kevin, Ma, Sanide, and Dinah continued cleaning up the food and Marojan washed the dishes. I looked up to Jarvass and puffed my cheeks.

"Jarvass?" I whispered

"Yea?"

"Promise me you won't let me get hurt," I whined a little but he nodded anyway, even if it was an unreasonable promise. It made me feel better about the next time a spider might show up in my room. I heard heavy thumpers and a dragging noise when I looked over I saw Pa dragging the dead spider out of the house after dragging it down the stairs. Naz and uncle Simon put their weapons up and that was that. Jarvass rubbed my back and whispered into my ear "You can go back upstairs now but try to avoid the spider guts, our mums will clean it up while Kevin and you are in the bath." He explained softly and I couldn't help but blush, I nodded slowly "Hey Jarvass...?"

He looked at me curiously after pulling away a little "hm?"

"Thanks for pretty much saving me again...." I smiled and nuzzled into him for a quick second before pulling out of the hug once and for all then running off so I could continue what I was doing. After getting clothes and avoiding spider guts I went to the bathroom and say the clothes up before yelling down to Kevin. Once we were in the bath we continued our normal routine.

"Hey, Pyper?" Kevin asked softly while I was scrubbing his hair and letting the soap run to his back

"Hm?"

I heard a stifled laugh "Why are you so clingy to Jarvass lately? And you have started to develop his social responses." I could practically hear his smile

"Because, I have to learn to dance, and he's the one training me in combat. Do you think it's wrong to be with him?" I asked a little confused

"No... I just think you like him." He made a half sheep half human laugh.

My face turned red rather quickly "I do not! Why do you think that?!" I hissed out and crossed my arms.

"Oh, I don't think. I know you do!" He chuckled and I poured a cup of water over him

"Your so rude," I growled and turned my back to him after rinsing him off. He started to wash my hair and back while I started to wash my front. "Even if I did why would it be your business. It's not like it matters."

"It does. Because I'm your brother. It matters because if he hurts you it's mine and Pa's responsibility to kick his butt. I will not allow my sister to get hurt by some random guy..." He snorted a little

"Jarvass isn't a random guy, he lives with us. I would expect this if I decided to start running off on the daily with a guy from school." I laughed "Kevin. I promise if Jarvass tries to hurt me I'll kick his butt before you and Pa even get to us." I smiled softly to myself.

"Fine..." He huffed and then a thought came to mind.

"Hey, Kevin?" I asked curiously and before he could respond "Why does Naz fight with a stick, wouldn't a sword or bow be better? Even daggers?" I asked confused and he laughed a little

"Pyper. That's not a stick. It's a staff. Staves are used by magi who are powerful enough to use it and keep demons away. Naz passed the test and went through three years of training before you were here and same with Dinah. I probably wasn't even walking, let alone out of my blanket.... That's about all I know by the way" he said softly "could probably ask Naz about it later if you're truly curious about it."

I nodded and held my breath as the water was poured over me. Once it was all off we got out, dried off and got dressed. "So. Jarvass said he wanted to hang out alone at the festival... Think you can handle that?" I asked quietly and Kevin hesitated but puffed his cheeks and then sighed

"Fine... But you owe me. I'll even keep our friends out of your little... Date." He grumbled slightly and we got dressed. We then went to bed and curled up, Ma and Sanide had already cleaned up the guts, and we knew Ana would be up soon to tuck us in. But, Kevin got impatient and left the room to go find her.

Jarvass came in and sat next to my bed, I was dozing so it took me a little to notice him. When I did he smiled nervously and spoke quietly while he began petting my hair.

"I'm gonna come get you in the mornin' before the festival starts, that way we can practice one more time before we have to be around people." He grinned a little and I nodded but nonchalantly I reached out and pulled him by his shirt collar so he was closer and I hugged him. "Pyper?"

"Hm..." I was starting to fall asleep on him now

"If you're trying to get me to sleep with you, I doubt your Ma would approve. But... I can give you my shirt..." He said softly and rubbed my back while holding me close to him. I nodded a little and yawned before pulling away from his warm embrace and watched him, half asleep, take his shirt off for me and hand it over. "Here." I snuggled into it after dealing it around my nug. It made me feel better to have something that smelt like him near me.

"Goodnight Jarvass..." I said quietly and looked at him with a soft grin before he vanished out of the doorway and headed off to his own bed. I fell asleep without needing a bedtime story this time, or a kiss from Ma. I was just that tired.

In the morning Jarvass shook me awake well before dawn and told me to get dressed and he'd meet me downstairs, and to be quiet. I did as asked and I brushed my hair, then got my dress on and handkerchief then some long white socks and some comfy but somewhat fancy shoes. I tucked my nug under my arm and brushed my teeth before tiptoeing downstairs so I could meet up with Jarvass who had raided the leftovers and packed up food. The festival didn't start until noon so we had plenty of time before then. I took in what Jarvass was wearing, I assumed E made it, it somewhat matched what I was wearing, yet it was more simple. A white shirt under a black jacket and white pants, the same dragon pendant on the wrists on his sleeves. Still being a little tired I didn't say much as he led me out of the house and to the surface than to our little area. It looked different in the dark, but Jarvass assured me it was just shadows playing with my mind.

Even if they were, they danced just out of reach, curved against the trees, trying to hide at the same time of trying to be noticed, twisting and turning against each other and reaching out only to slink back to the shadows after being burned by the moonlight. When we finally reached our clearing I couldn't help but scan the area as we reached the edge of the pool of water, we always danced there. And like always we started to practice, but after a week or practice it was like second nature to us, we had even paused sparing so that we could dance more. We danced for a few hours until we ended up under the tree. Jarvass then laid a blanket down for us to sit and started to unpack what he had robbed from the kitchen.

"So. After the festival... I was wondering if I could show you something. I promise it will be worth it." Jarvass piped up after separating all the food.

"Going anywhere with you is worth it," I said softly and started to nibble on some bread and cold soup. I didn't care that it was cold, it's potato soup, I love potato soup. I looked up to Jarvass and he was grinning like a stupid idiot out of shock at what I said. "It's true... Now eat. I won't have you hungry during the festival. I coaxed Kevin to keep our friends away from us. So you have your wish, it will be just us today." I giggled and his eyes seemed to widen a little and his face pink ended but I didn't comment on that but just handed over some bread so he could eat.

We left after eating and packing up, and once we got home we put everything up and avoided the questions on where we were by immediately running off to see the mayor start up the festival with the presence of all the nobles of the area. Once it was started we couldn't help but buy candy with Jarvass's savings and just have fun. Kevin stayed true to his word as well. I couldn't help but observe the decorations. Paper streamers and large metal covered dragon carvings, made from wood, and many little merchants shops for things covering the history of the festival and things being sold just because. The streets were vacant of carts and decorated with chalk, they were now used for dancing and the parade that wouldn't come until nightfall. I didn't notice how many people had joined in after Jarvass and I started dancing, but we both dragged a few people at first but eventually there was a lot of people, maybe even half the town in on dancing! The music was loud and vibrant and we all sang traditional songs.

Jarvass ended up spoiling me with sweets beyond candy, he bought me pastries and I decided to buy him something else, well, us. I bought us matching necklaces. They were two dragons in love, put them together and they looked like they were twisted around each other at their tails and forming a heart by their heads. Separate it looked like just dragons. Both were metal and had little gems in their eyes. But I liked them. I decided to wonder from Jarvass for a moment and ran into someone.

  
"Hey! Aren't you that girl I met a few times when you made deliveries to Dragon's Wing Tower?" A voice chimed, tiring to them I realized it was the half Elf half Qunari girl I had met a few times through the locked gates at that Templar tower that Kevin and I deliver to every now and then. I nodded and smiled before holding my hand out.

"Yea. I'm Pyper. Wasn't your name Taylor?" I asked curiously as she connected our hands and we both briefly shook each other's hands before allowing our hands to retreat.

"Yea. It's good to meet you Pyper." She smiled softly "So, why are you dressed all fancy?" She asked curiously, normally kids our age didn't get all dressed up for the festival, it was a day to be free and a kid again for some, some like Taylor who was more than likely trapped like a rat in the cage of the Templar tower.

"I'm on a date with a friend." I said softly and she giggled

"You mean. Boyfriend right?" She snickered a little but it didn't bother me, it wasn't like that. I was used to it by now, when living with Kevin your used to things like this. I heard her mother call for her and she yelled back "Coming mother!" She then looked to me "I got to go. I'm only here to visit family, so can't talk long. Nice meeting you Pyper!" She giggled and ran off to go meet up with her mum. Just as I watched her fade into the crowd a hand grabbed mine.

"There you are!" Jarvass laughed and I did with him. "Where'd you go?"

"Just made a new friend is all. Don't worry" I grinned and he led me over to some crates that were stacked at the edge of an alley and he helped me up on top of them before we started to munch. "So when is the parade going to start. I'm looking forward to getting outta here" I smiled and nibbled on my cookie.

"In a few minutes. Once it's a little over half way done we can leave, then I can show you that thing." He said happily "I know you'll like it."

"I better. It's not often Ma agrees to Kevin and I leaving the tavern to celebrate like normal kids." I teased and giggled before he rolled his eyes and started to munch too. The parade wasn't very special, just floats on carts meant to represent parts of the story of how the treaty came to be. So it wasn't anything new. It took maybe an hour before Jarvass helped me off the crates and we snuck off unnoticed.

Jarvass led me out of one of the back entrances to the city and he started to lead me into the unknown. I had only ever left out of the main gates, so, I was scared. I held on tighter to Jarvass and stuck close to him. I felt helpless, like in an instant with displacement that curtain of pride was stripped away and left me alone with nothing to shield the innocents that was still left in me.

We walked a few hours before he started to carry me and then he walked a little longer before we reached a dark cave, our only light by now was moonlight. He led me into the cave and sat me down on a log before he started to light a fire in a fire pit that was already there.

"I'm assuming you've came here more than once?" I asked softly and looked at him

"Yea. I just found it recently, normally I don't tell people about what I find, but I figured you'd like to see this time." He grinned and watched the fire as he tended to it and slowly it flickered to life and grew as he fed it. We stayed for an hour before he made a torch and led me deeper into the caves, we found strange glowing mushrooms, different metals, underground streams, and crystals. The crystals were amazing. We stayed down there for hours, collecting and talking when we made it back to the fire we continued our book before drifting to sleep. We didn't think about the consequences that would come with this, sneaking away without telling where we were going and falling asleep. We were doomed. 


	5. Chapter Five - Stories and Plans

Jarvass and I got in a lot of trouble for staying the night in some creepy cave without permission. We didn't care, though, for some reason. Jarvass ended up dragging me into all sorts of mischief. We would sneak into nearby camps of Templars that were out of their tower and training in the woods just to pull pranks of them and annoy them. We even stole from them. Then we'd sell what we stole and keep the money hidden. Jarvass said it was all part of his plan, he wanted us to save the money for something. It wasn't just Templars we stole from, it was nobles, magi, random merchants that passed through, but never the poor or those we knew.

We've been doing this for three years now. I'm now eleven and he fifteen. He said we almost have enough money for what we're saving for, and yes, I was never told and never asked what it is we're saving for.

I was currently munching on a few chocolate covered potato chips while kicking my feet. I was sitting on the edge of the roof of the tavern. We got in trouble for stealing every now and then, when Ma or Pa would find out, but when they didn't know we were fine. Kevin and E joined us every now and then, they tried to stay out of it, though, but they knew something I didn't - what we were saving for. Same with Penny and Orana, they knew too. It was so annoying. I left my thought bubble as a hand rested on my shoulder.

"Bout time you got yer butt here." I smiled warmly at him, with living here I gained a certain speech pattern, well. Almost everyone did, everyone but Penny and Orana. I knew who it was without even looking. By the size of the hand and the fact he and I were the only two besides Kevin to know the way up here. It was Jarvass.

"Yea yea. It's not my fault yer Ma stopped me and asked what I was doing. They're gettin' suspicious." He laughed and sat next to me. The tavern was pretty tall but not the tallest building. Which was fine by us.

"Let them. We ain't hitting anyone tonight. The pinching is planned a few days from now." I grinned and he smiled in return. Puberty was hitting him like the blight hit Thedas so many years ago. And yes, Thedas. We were being schooled in neighboring countries even if they didn't know of us 90% of the time. He was getting taller, and his horns were growing out more, he was getting thinner and his muscles showing more. Pa said he was about to be in the prime of his age once he passes the threshold of eighteen. His face looked so calm and stern, like the stone. He was going to be just like Naz with his looks, and Marojan didn't look any different from his twin, except he had both his horns. "We still hittin' the two smug ones right?"

"Yea. And we'll pinch stuff from them and their wagon. Won't be hard. Stick to plan orange and we should be able to pinch unnoticed." He stated and stuck a toothpick between his teeth before closing his lips on it as well. He stared off at the fountain in the center of the city. "Hey, Pyper..." He asked before grinning playfully and shooting me a look "how in the fade do you eat that crud?"

"What? Chips and chocolate? It's so good, though. Don't act like you don't know my random cravings for salty sweet things." I laughed softly and he grinned ear to ear with a mischievous toothy smile that only meant his mind went where most pubescent boys minds go.

"Well, does that mean you crave me from time to time?" He looked at me with intense eyes. I rolled mine and put a hand on his face and shoved it away.

"Jarvass yer such a pervert." I hissed before taking my hand away from his face and finishing up the last bit of my food. He pulled me close without my consent, well, I didn't actually notice until he started to pull me closer. He had snaked his arms around my waist and pulled me as close to him as possible and buried his nose into my hair.

"Only to you Kadan." I felt him smile, it made me smile. The way he said that. Living with a Tal-Vashoth, or in English - a former member of the Qun, so, Sanide, allowed me to pick up on the Qunari language. Sanide was originally from Thedas but ran away from the Qun and ran into the Tevinter Imperium eventually and hopped on a boat then ended up here... In the slave trade, and eventually with luck was bought by Ma and Pa after falling in love with Nazaarad. I snuggled into Jarvass without thinking twice, Kevin always teased me over my "crush" but my pride had built up ten fold since my incident when I was eight. I didn't let him puncture it.

"Hey. Later my uncle is going to take me hunting. So your gonna have to wait for me for our plans tonight." I said softly and pulled off him before looking up at him. He ran his fingers through my hair, it was longer now, maybe mid back, still uneven though and messy, but my curls really showed now. I loved it.

"Not a problem. I'll tell our friends. And if anything we will strike without you and save you the fun if you show up mid-pounce." He smiled and pulled his fingers out of my hair when they got stuck in the curls and then started to comb them through again. "Sweet maker, why's yer hair so soft?" He chuckled softly

I shrugged. "I duno. Ask Kevin. He's the one who washes it." I smiled softly, he tilted his head.

"Your eleven..." He looked confused

"Yea," I replied

"He's thirteen...." He continued on with his thought

"Yea?" I questioned where he was going with this

"You still bathe together?" Suddenly his eyes were wide but his brows knitted together in worry and confusion

I blinked and tilted my head a bit "yeah... Why?" I frowned "what's the big deal?"

He looked overly shocked by this "You're not concerned something is going to happen?!"

I glared "Jarvass that's disgusting. Nothing like that would happen. We're siblings." I hissed and he huffed "besides if either of us ever thought of something like that why would we continue to bathe together, clearly neither of us have a problem with it." I growled a little but he wasn't fazed by my threatening looks.

"Calm yourself girl. I just worry for you is all." He said softly and frowned, I hugged in return and got up.

"Well. I best get goin'. My uncle won't wait forever fer me to show up." I said softly and dusted off my pants from the crumbs. "Sorry to cut it short, I know you like staring at me and annoying the ever livin' outta me but, yea," I smirked and kissed his broken horn before heading off, letting him watch me leave. Thankfully I was now old enough for Wicked Grace, and I picked up on how to play with ease. Pa now regrets teaching me since I tend to clean a few tables a night. What can I say? Give a few old men some ale, and eventually, they don't know if they're too drunk to play or not. Easy win. Uncle Simon says I'm too smart for my own good, but the money helps Jarvass with whatever were saving for. But, between you, me and this book, I don't always give him all of my earnings, I have my own little safe stash.

I made it down into the attic and then into mine and Kevin's room from the trapdoor in the ceiling above my bookshelf, then I climbed down that like a ladder and watched Jarvass follow me down, he closed the trapdoor behind him and we went our separate ways. I had to grab my dagger and put my hair up. He needed to go back to work in the mines. After I did what was needed I headed downstairs. "Hey Ma, I'm gonna go huntin' with uncle Simon," I said loudly.

"Be safe Pyper." She said sweetly from behind the bar and suddenly I heard Pa bellow.

"Go get em, Pyper!" He laughed. Pa may be slightly off his rocker. But he's still Pa, and thankfully, he doesn't tell me to be safe anymore, only Ma does. But Ma is Ma and she always wants me to be safe and careful. I had been hunting with my uncle since I turned ten, so just about two years now. I headed out to meet uncle Simon. He was waiting for me outside the tavern. And by waiting, I meant sleeping. I shook his arm gently "uncle Simon. Wake up." I said softly and smile as he opened his eyes.

"MaiMai! Yer here. Good" he said and started to get to his feet, he took a moment, old age did that to you. "I wanted to ask if you wanted to learn how to use a bow, that way yer not hunting with yer daggers." He said gruffly, then smiled and waved me to follow him into the house. His was one of the smaller ones built into the wall of the city. His house wasn't far from the tavern, down the road, up some steps, and a few yards from the steps was his house. On the inside. The house was only a few rooms. Living room, a small bedroom, and his bathroom. The living room was also his kitchen and dining room, the bedroom was where he was going, however. I followed him to the bedroom and watched him as he was digging in an old trunk. "Now... Where'd I put that.... No..." He mumbled to himself and kept digging "that's not it..." He then headed to a cubby hole that was hidden in the floorboards and opened that up and started digging before he pulled out a longbow "ah ha!" He grinned and also pulled out a quiver full of old arrows.

"This... Was your aunts. I feel,  it's only respectful if I give this to you MaiMai." He said softly and grinned as he handed it over, his fuzzy mustache curved up with joy

"Thank you, uncle. I didn't think you'd give me something so special." I said in a near whisper and took the bow in hand. It was made of some kind of dark red wood and had tan markings. The grip was a thick rough leather-like hide, it felt strange... Scaly. It was a dark blue color. "What's it made of?"

"DragonThorn wood with Sylvanwood and Drakeskin Leather. Her father handed it down to her. It was her mother's, and her mother's aunt. And so on. Family heirloom. The first girl in the family gets it." He said softly and petted my hair gently, brushing over the tips of my pointy ears.

"Doesn't that mean Ma should get it?" I asked softly and looked at him as he shook his head

"Firstborn girl, silly. Your mother be already born when I married Maiva. She and your mother went head to head like Rams but loved each other in a way. But, yer the first born female in the family. Even if you didn't come from Maiva or from Ferinda." He smiled and then handed me the quiver made of the same blue scaly leather. "As you get older I'll give you more of your aunt's things." He smiled then grabbed an old worn longbow off the wall, it looked like it would break soon, probably not a very strong wood.

I pulled the quiver over my back and over my head so it's strap rested horizontally from my right shoulder to my left hip, the arrows were easy to grab from there. I then mimicked what I had seen uncle Simon do a few times. I held the bow in my left hand and pull the string with my right.

"Yer just like your aunt.... Your grabbing the bow wrong but if you feel it's better to use that hand, go ahead." He smiled "but please don't shoot it in here. Your aunt's arrows are a pain in the ass to get out, especially if it hits something living." He said with a laugh before heading out of the room with his own quiver and started to head out of the house. I headed after him and quit aiming the bow. The string was pretty hard to pull but not too hard. It was my first time using a bow on my own. When we used Penny and Orana's mom's I needed help aiming and pulling the string, which resulted in us all on the bow trying to get it to fire... That never really worked out. I followed uncle Simon out and he locked his house up before we headed down the steps and to the stairs that led to the surface. With all these stairs and how spread out the city was not a lot of dwarves were chunky. I had even started to thin out. Ma said I must have been starving myself. But I swear I wasn't. I was starting to grow taller than dwarves. I couldn't wait to be as tall as a human.

Uncle Simon led me to the surface, with a twenty-minute detour of talking to the gate guards. He then started to lead me into the forest. I already knew how to track, I've been hunting before. The only new thing about this is I'm hunting with a bow now. We were hunting a Druffalo, something big and easy for me to practice using a bow on, not something small like a Koid or a Fennic. Koids are so cute, though, I refuse to kill them.

Looking around I watch the dead and colorful leave skitter across the ground, swirling around in rhythm as they chase one another. Quietly scraping against the ground every now and then before their excitement diminishes and they cease all movement. I looked back to the tracks. It was a herd we were tracking. Maybe three or four Druffalo. I slowed my pace and my uncle slowed as well before we stopped near a clearing, there were maybe twenty more Druffalo than we had expected in a clearing. None the less I readied my bow, trying to aim right.

"Elbow down, flatten it out and steady your hands. Using a bow isn't as easy as daggers, with your daggers yer ripping into them with raw uncontrolled energy, here you have to harness and control it." Uncle Simon explained in a whisper as I followed his directions. "Take aim. And take a breath then hold it to steady. When you feel like you've got it. Let go." He whispered ever so gently, and we were standing far enough away that the animals didn't hear. I counted in my head.

One. Two. Release. I let go of the arrow and everything seemed to slow for a moment. The arrow spinning freely in a frenzy of pure energy as it flies away from my fingertips, turning in a spiral, and in under a second but what seemed like forever, impaled the Druffalo's horn. The animal gave out a loud noise before the entire herd began to break up and run away in random directions, causing my uncle to pull me down behind a large knocked over tree, the Druffalo would have to jump over the tree and us to keep going. In a few short minutes, the herd had cleared out. I sighed heavily and sat up with a frown gazing at the horizon where my Druffalo had run away, far out of reach.

Uncle Simon put his hand on my shoulder "ya did good." He stated before getting up "but next time, try t' aim for the body, or neck." He said before holding his hand out to help me up.

"But I was aiming fer the body..." I pouted and he sighed

"Look, it's goin' take a lot longer than a few measly tries before you get good at shooting off yer bow. So, just humor yer ol' uncle alright? I'm teaching you as we go. Tomorrow we will do some target practice and eventually you'll be firing off arrows faster than you can say 'dragon feet'." He chuckled softly and I rolled my eyes a little but smiled anyway. To me, dragon feet did sound funny. I was always easily amused after all. Then something hit me.

"Oh... Uncle Simon. In a few days prank master Doreian wants me to go overseas to meet his brother and such. Sanide wanted me to drop some things off t' her distant family, and Penny and Orana are goin' to come with so they can visit their cousins." I said softly and rubbed my arm a little "you said that-"

Uncle Simon cut me off "Maiva did come from the place of which you speak. But you are too young to get tangled in the Carta. I will eventually give you information about her family." He paused and gave me a stern as stone look "I will not loose you to the Carta MaiMai. So do not go looking for her past. When you are older, I'll give you directions to uncover yer aunts history. But do not do so yourself, especially at this age!" He frowned and huffed before he started to wobble off

"Yes, uncle." I murmured obediently "but. I was only going to ask if I could visit where you two met." I said softly and he smiled a little and started his monolog on how they met. I've heard the story so many times, but I still love it.

"Ah. We met in the marketplace of a dwarven city. It was as warm as ever in Orzammar, that their city is almost as big as ours, but nothin' can beat Velcpool." He chuckled "She was buyin' a nug fer her brother, it was his birthday. I was buying some bread and cheese for soup. Yer mother was cooking that night. But I looked over and at the same time, our eyes met. And my heart melted. Her honey blonde hair fell down in thick strands that curled around her face, it went to her shoulders but it made her look like the brightest gemstone in the world. Her eyes were a Blueish Green, like yours MaiMai. Hazel and beautiful, yet so simple and common. She was wearing a rose colored dress that showed her shoulders and was rimmed in a gold color, her apron was an off white but covered in dust and she wore boots under her dress. Without skipping a beat we moved toward each other and when we got close enough she asked for my name." He paused and drew a deep breath before sighing contently, pausing his walk and closing his eyes momentarily

"Her voice was like enchanted silk that was lost in the wind..." He opened his eyes and kept walking "When I told her my name she giggled like soft bells jingling, and then she told me hers while getting closer. She said it in the sweetest tone I had ever heard." He chuckled slightly "she decided right there, we'd be together and I'd marry her as soon as her parents agreed to let me wed her off." He growled a little more irritated.

"Alas... Her father had made our love forbidden, and took her away. So I took action and took her back, it was the dead of night, we only had known each other a month or two. And we ran. I convinced Ferinda to let me hide her on our ship and we sailed away. Once we were off the cost we didn't hide her anymore... We lived here, in Velcpool, until the great dragon attack of 9:02 Dragon. That's when Pheivrax and Thedas both decided that this would be the year of the dragon, even though Thedas had declared their year of the dragon before us." He stated and huffed softly "The dragon spread a terrible plague across our lands and your aunt happened to be one of the unlucky souls to catch it, I prayed that she'd live through it, power it out" he stopped and leaned on a tree, hiding his face from me as he covered his eyes with a gloved hand.

"But... One morning when I was cleaning her, getting her ready for bed. She turned to me... and told me she wouldn't be here forever." He took in a shaken breath "I asked what she meant and she didn't answer. I told her not to say she won't make it... I was so sure she would, or at least the baby would.... She told me I'd have another Maiva eventually to protect...." He said softly and wiped his eyes a little "She died a few hours later in her sleep.... I nevah woulda thought that she was telling the truth... Four and a half years later my baby sister came home and there you were, a handkerchief wrapped around your hair and covering your ears. I thought for sure you were a dwarf until ye told us you were an elf. And a princess too!" He laughed a little and looked at me, I was now leaning on the tree across from him.

I cracked a smile "yea, I wish I was a dwarf, but hey, can't choose how we're born." I grinned and he walked over before hugging me. I hugged back and rubbed his back. I heard the story a few times before, but it never got easier for my dearest uncle for him to face it. I even tried to smooth the pain by sleeping over at his house a few times, it helped a little but sometimes he had a heart attack because he mistook me for his wife. I guess we really did look similar, besides height and ears. He tells me all the time I look like her. Never gets old.

After the hug, he continued following the tracks "ya know. Everyone but you knows what that their fancy surprise is that Jarvass wants to get you." He said with a chuckle "everyone, your friends and all of the family."

I frowned and then after a moment grinned and nudged him a little "well... Since everyone knows, why not tell me?"

"Nope"

"Not even a hint!?"

"Nope" he grinned back and I huffed before we stopped at a tree. "I think this might be a lost cause. I'll train you to shoot the bow on nonliving targets, maybe then you will be able to kill something besides a plant with your arrows!" He billowed and then coughed a little and sighed shortly after.

"Alright... On our way back. Tell me a story?" I grinned innocently and he nodded.

"Well. Let's see..." He thought for a moment "did I ever tell you I use to adventure before I met yer aunt?"

I decided to humor my favorite uncle "not that I can remember."

"Bull honky! I had to have told you.... Did I?" He looked at me and I laughed "Well anyway... I'll tell you about my greatest adventure!" He paused and tried to set the atmosphere and wiggled his fingers as he set his forearms level with his elbows, making what he called "spooky fingers". He looked at me "I was out in the middle of nowhere, a thick forest with winding branches in the trees and thick untamed roots that tunneled through the ground and played tricks on you of where you've been. The moss was so thick it was a mattress!" He opened his arms trying to be more dramatic as he lifted them to the sky for a moment "I was tryin' to get some sleep while lookin' for some ruins to sell, I was told there were priceless ruins in them there woods that I could sell to the Dailish - was their past - said to be precious to them!—"

"Uncle?" I butted in and he stopped for a moment before looking at me "What's a Dalish?" For a moment I was eight again, listening to his stories and questioning him.

"Oh! What's a Dalish?! That's 'nother story! I'll get to that now don't you worry!" He gleamed with pride and then continued his own story "So - as I was saying, I was in the woods, tryin' to sleep after a long day of lookin'. When all of a sudden I heard a loud roar - a ferocious roar that woke me and shook the ground!" He said then attempted imitate a roar of his own, I laughed and he did as well shortly after. "I got up and when I looked up a dragon was flying overhead, searching for something on the forest floor as I floundered to my feet to try and chase it down. I grabbed up as much as my stuff as I could. Then I stopped a while away from where the beast had sat. It was huge, maybe bigger than our neighborhood! It had big ugly teeth and blue and white scales. It was surely going to get nasty if I tried to approach it." He paused and laughed a little.

"So obviously I went around it, made my way through the forest and made sure to mark on my map where the big sucker's nest was so that I could avoid it. But soon I was back on my path. Since I had been awoken I figured no use in trying to sleep near a beast - something that would eat me in a heartbeat. So eventually I made it to my destination. It was this big pretty temple like ruin, far far north of where most of the Dalish lived. So I of course was going to go in until I was greeted by a tall man. An elf. He was bald and had strange markin's all up on his face. Real interestin' fella. He told me I was not allowed in the temple, I wasn't an elf. He then told me I could leave or I could die. So like the young dumb dwarf I was, I told him I didn't want to leave, I wanted to at least look around the place. He sneered at me and said it was my last chance. And before I opened my big dumb mouth I realized there were archers everywhere, and mage's ready to kill me. So I told him I'd leave. But I asked before I left if I could get an elven artifact for my friend, or something of elven culture. When he asked who my friend was I said Lemlassan, that he wanted something elven to give to his crush so that she would marry him." He smiled and looked back at me "guess you could say your friends wouldn't exist if it wasn't for me" he chuckled and kept walking "He thought it over then nodded and got me an old looking necklace. He said it was a token of protection, to heed off the dread wolf. Now whatever that is, you'd have to ask Lem 'bout. I don't have the slightest idea on any elven culture." He said and looked at the doors to the city as we drew close "but of course, I took it and thanked him, said I wouldn't be a bother any longer. Then left. Of course, I scavenged things around the temple and took those to give to the Dalish for a high price. But once I got back home I was able to give Lem the necklace and he gave it to Orarrill. She agreed to marry him and was quite thankful that he would track down such an item and have someone get it for her. When really he just found the temple and told me to go get something that would please her." He smiled and put a hand on my shoulder.

"Alright, darlin'. Now. About those Dalish..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the wait guys I've been busy lately! Haha hope you enjoy and I'll post another one ASAP!

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys enjoy this, next chapter ill be soon. And will also start a few years later than her current age in the story. Ask any questions you like below! :) If you see any mistakes with some spellings you can point it out, i wont get mad I actually appreciate the help! I'm also posting this on both Wattpad and Quotev, as well as here just to let you know.


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